Fifteen Years In the Making
by Baley
Summary: AU. Brooke Davis and Haley James have been best friends since they were three years old, they have been through everything together. What happens when their feelings for each other become something else entirely? MAJOR BALEY AHEAD.
1. Foot, Meet My Mouth

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Surprise, surprise. Well, actually I own the people I make up. So, yay me.  
  
Author's Note: This story is totally AU, I haven't even decided if they live in Tree Hill yet. Hope that's okay with everyone.  
  
..........FYITM..........  
  
"Can you believe the nerve of that stuck up bitch?" Brooke Davis screamed into the phone at her best friend. She quickly turned the corner onto the street she was looking for, completely ignoring the shoats of the guy she nearly ran over.  
  
"Well, can you really blame her?" Haley James asked in an assumed tone as she heard the guy yelling in the background. "You did sleep with her boyfriend and bribe him to give you naked pictures of her so you could sell them to every person in the school."  
  
"And she just assumes it was me?"  
  
"She caught you selling a copy to Tommy Sullivan."  
  
"That still doesn't give her enough proof to accuse me for setting this whole thing up." Brooke shook her head in frustration and made a sudden turn to park in the driveway she was looking for.  
  
"You did set it up."  
  
"It's the principle of the matter, Hales," Brooke told her. She turned off the ignition and got out of the car, slamming the door hard. She grabbed her purse from the back seat and stalked up the walkway.  
  
"There is no principles in this matter, Brooke," Haley disagreed. She smiled when she heard her front door open and close loudly. Since her house wasn't very big, within a moment her bedroom door flew open.  
  
"Whatever," she mumbled into the phone before flipping it shut with one hand. Haley moved over on her bed to make room for her friend. Brooke walked over and flopped down on the bed. "I still don't think it's fair."  
  
"You stole her boyfriend and passed out naked pictures of her," Haley laughed, moving so she was lying beside Brooke on the bed. "You really think you got the unfair end of the deal?" Brooke thought about it for a moment before rolling her eyes and sighing.  
  
"He wasn't even that good." They both broke into fits of giggles, which they tended to do from time to time.  
  
"So, why did you do this again?" Haley asked her once they stopped their laughing. "You just felt the sudden need to ruin Sara Hudson's entire existence for no reason?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"And that's why I love you," Haley teased. Brooke beamed at her and rolled her eyes. She hit her playfully in the arm.  
  
"Because I'm such an evil bitch?" Haley nodded. "Well that's why I love you too."  
  
"Thanks, Brookie," Haley commented. "But I'm not the one that just ruined someone's life for no reason. I was too busy sitting in my room studying for finals to play your little game of 'Screw and Screw Over'."  
  
"First, you're the smartest girl I know..."  
  
"Not saying much."  
  
"...So there is no need for you to be so stressed out about finals," she finished, not paying attention to Haley's comment. She tossed the History book that was laying beside her across the room, much to Haley's dismay. "And second, I had reasons for what I did."  
  
"And they are..."  
  
"She totally stole my boyfriend last year!" Haley looked at her in confusion, trying to think of which of her many boyfriends cheated on her. Brooke shook her head when she realized that Haley didn't remember what she was talking about. "Travis Olsen. I can't believe you don't remember him."  
  
"You do have a lot of boyfriends."  
  
"Travis was the love of my life, Haley," Brooke reminded her. Haley rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming next. "I would think my best friend would remember the guy that shattered my faith in destiny."  
  
"Oh, come off it, Bunny," Haley exclaimed, using her pet name for Brooke for emphasis. "You would have to have had faith in destiny for some random guy to shatter it. You went on two dates with the guy."  
  
"We were going out for an entire week, Haley," she shot back, pissed off that Haley was trying to brush it off like it was nothing.  
  
"Really? A whole week?" Haley put a hand over her heart. "Then you must be soul mates." Brooke shot her a death glare.  
  
"Cause you have had so many lasting relationships. Even friendships for the matter." Brooke sat up before getting off the bed entirely. That way she could stand over her. "I can't even remember the last time you hung out with anybody that wasn't me."  
  
"That's just cause I can't stand to be apart from you," Haley shot back in a sarcastic tone. "What can I say, the love just rolls off you in waves." She pulled herself up and into a sitting position, moving so she was leaning against the headboard. She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them.  
  
"Oh, crap," Brooke muttered to herself when she saw the way Haley was sitting. She would always sit like that when she was upset about something. Brooke always wondered if she did that on purpose to let people know that she was upset or if she just did it without realizing it. "I'm sorry, Hales."  
  
"Why?" Haley asked, bitterly. "It's true. I don't talk to anyone else. I just sit here in my room by myself."  
  
"Come on, Huggie," Brooke sighed, moving over to sit on the edge of the bed. "You know I didn't mean it."  
  
"Sure you did," Haley said. "Ever since we got out of Junior High I haven't been Miss Social anymore. Hell, you're the only person I still talk to. And that's just because I can't get rid of you." Brooke smiled, knowing she was just teasing her.  
  
"Well, that's fine with me," Brooke said, with a smile she hoped was convincing enough to spread to her best friend. "Cause I don't like to share you anyway." Haley smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry I said that he wasn't the love of your life," Haley apologized to her. Even though she didn't think that Travis was really Brooke's soul mate, she wasn't going to tell her that. Brooke laughed and laid a hand on Haley's thigh.  
  
"He wasn't," Brooke whispered. She leaned closer to Haley. "You are." She was able to kept a straight face for a moment longer before breaking out in giggles. Haley soon joined in.  
  
"Ew," she cried, playfully pushing Brooke off the bed. "Get off my bed, you big lesbo." Brooke smirked at her.  
  
"That's got to be the first time you've ever kicked me out of your bed."  
  
"And I'm sure it won't be the last." Both girls paused to figure that out. Haley shook her head. "Never mind, that one didn't work."  
  
"Maybe you should be studying," Brooke teased, walking over to pick up the book she had thrown over there earlier. She tossed it at Haley.  
  
"I think you need to be the one studying," Haley laughed at her, taking the book and flipping through the pages. "You're the one that's failing Science, am I wrong?" Brooke shook her head and flopped back down on the bed.  
  
"You'll tutor me," she stated. Haley looked at her in mock surprise.  
  
"Oh, I will, will I?" Brooke nodded her head, glancing at Haley to give her the puppy dog eyes. "And why would I do that?"  
  
"Cause I'll be your best friend."  
  
"You already are," Haley laughed. "You have been for the last fifteen years."  
  
"Well, then that's an even better reason," Brooke pointed out. She looked at the leg that was sitting in front of her. She grabbed a hold of it and pulled to closer to her. "Please, Huggie?"  
  
"Huggie?" Haley repeated. "You haven't called me that in ages. Do you even remember why you started calling me that?" She poked Brooke in the stomach with the foot that Brooke had grabbed. Brooke squeaked and let it go.  
  
"Yeah," Brooke replied. "Cause when we were five my bunny died and I would cry every time I saw a rabbit or when we watched Bugs Bunny. You would always hug me and make it better." Haley laughed at the thoughts.  
  
"That's why I started calling you Bunny."  
  
"Yeah, that was really sensitive of you, by the way," Brooke added.  
  
"We were five," Haley defended herself. "You got over it soon enough. Pretty soon you were obsessing over boys instead of that stupid bunny."  
  
"I knew it," Brooke exclaimed, jumping off the bed and pointing a finger at Haley. "I knew you always hated Bob. I knew it."  
  
"Its name was Bob, for God's sake," she sighed. "What kind of a name was that?" Brooke grabbed a shirt off the chair and threw it at Haley. She giggled when it landed on her head. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You're forgiven," Brooke answered quickly. "You know I can't stay mad at you."  
  
"What about that time in sixth grade?" Haley pointed out, which earned her a warning glare from Brooke. "Forgotten." Brooke smiled and moved to the door, knowing Haley would follow her. "What are we doing tonight?"  
  
"Hiding from Sara Hudson."  
  
"Sounds like fun."  
  
"As long as we're together, it's always fun," she said, wrapping an arm around Haley's waist. Haley rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm not protecting you," she said, pulling out of Brooke's embrace and walking ahead.  
  
"Huggie!"  
  
..........FYITM..........  
  
I don't know if it's any good. I wrote it a long time ago, but I didn't think anyone would be interested. I figured since people like my other Baley story, I thought maybe they'd like this. I'm not really sure where I'm taking this so I'm open to suggestions. 


	2. Choose Your Friends Wisely

Author's Note: Hey, everyone. Sorry that I've never updated this before, I just kind of forgot all about it. I know that most of you are probably reading my other Baley fanfic; Who Would Have Thought, but I'm sort of having writer's block on that one at the moment, and since I haven't really gotten that far on this one, it's a lot easier to write this one. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and please tell me what you think.

..........FYITM..........

"So, what does the almighty Brooke Davis have planned for this weekend of all weekends?" Haley asked as she and Brooke made their way into the front of the school. It was finally Friday, which signaled the end of another hellish week at Tree Hill High.

"I'm not sure yet," she answered back, pulling on Haley's arm to lead them towards her locker. "I haven't quite decided what I want to do." She unlocked the door and started piling her books inside.

"Are you telling me that Ms. Popular doesn't have any plans for a Friday night?" Haley questioned, pretending to be shocked. Brooke flashed her one of her classic smiles; the ones that show off her adorable dimples that can make most grown men go weak in the knees.

"You just give me time, Huggie," Brooke assured her. She didn't know where it came from, but all of a sudden she was calling Haley by her childhood nickname again. "I'll have us invited to the best party by the end of second period." Haley raised an eyebrow at her best friend as Brooke checked herself out in the mirror she had on her locker door.

"Us?" Haley repeated, confused at Brooke's sudden need to include Haley in all her teenage rebellion. "When did partying stop becoming a 'Brooke thing' and start becoming a 'Brooke and Haley thing'?"

"Since this weekend," Brooke cheered, tossing the lip-gloss to Haley and opening the locker door so she could use the mirror. Haley had to smile when she saw all the pictures of her and Brooke plastered all over the inside of the locker. Haley's locker looked almost identical to Brooke's just with different pictures.

"What's this weekend?"

"It marks the end of May," Brooke explained, taking the makeup back from Haley and putting it back in her bag. With one last look at herself in the mirror, she closed the metal door and the two began to walk again.

"And that means what to me..."

"That there is only one more month of school left," Brooke informed her. As much as she loved having Haley all to herself, she didn't want to be Haley's only link to the outside world. It scared her sometimes thinking about Haley locked up in her room all the time. "High school is almost over Hales."

"Um, Bunny?" Haley laughed, also confused at the sudden overuse of Brooke's nickname. Brooke glanced over at her. "We're only Junior, we still have another year in this hell hole."

"Well, still," Brooke insisted, shaking her head at her on mistake. "That means that high school is more than half done, therefore it is almost over." Brooke smiled proudly, happy with her logic. Haley laughed and rolled her eyes. There was no use arguing with Brooke, they always ended up both confused.

"Whatever," Haley mumbled, bumping her hip into Brooke's. "Did you have a point you were trying to make, or were you just babbling."

"I had a point," Brooke assured her, but her voice wasn't that confident. "I don't remember it now, but I swear I had one." Haley smiled at the typical attitude of her best friend. There was nothing that made her feel better than just talking and goofing around with Brooke. It just showed that some things never change.

"Sure you did," Haley teased, eyeing the other brunette like she was crazy. Brooke stuck her tongue out at her and playfully pushed her. They finally reached the gym doors. "Have fun cheerleading."

"Have fun reading," Brooke shoot back. It was their usual schedule that they had to make up when Brooke made the cheerleading squad. Brooke had practice every Tuesday and Friday mornings before school and almost every Wednesday after school. Since Brooke was Haley's ride to school, Haley just hung around in the library if she didn't have a tutoring session with anyone.

"I will," Haley laughed as she started walking towards the library. Brooke watched after her.

"See you in first period," she called after her. She saw Haley wave absently, already engrossed in her book. Brooke laughed and pushed open the doors to the girls' change room. The familiar sounds of gossip immediately filled her ears as she wandered through to find the rest of the squad.

"Can you believe him?" questioned Peyton, her voice sounding completely in distressed. Brooke rolled her eyes, knowing she was just being a drama queen, that's what Peyton Sawyer was best at after all.

"That is so not fair," Theresa agreed, always the first to kiss the blonde's ass. Even thought Brooke was the caption of the squad, Theresa never bothered to kiss up to her, but chose Peyton instead. Brooke never did figure it out, but she was thankful for it anyway.

"I know," Peyton sighed in defeat. "I mean, a tutor? Seriously? That is worse than a regular geek. At least regular geeks stick to themselves, but tutors are, like, trying to spread their geekdom to others." Brooke didn't know whether to laugh at the seriousness in Peyton's voice or yell at her for making fun of her best friend.

"Who'd you get?"

"Haley James," Peyton answered in a disgusted voice. Brooke's ears perked up as she pulled up her skirt. She shoved her clothes in her gym locker and turned around to see what else Peyton had to say about Haley.

"I've never heard of her," Theresa commented. Not many people knew that much about Haley, she was just that really smart girl they sat in the corner all the time and only spoke when she was spoken to. "Who is she?"

"She's the biggest loser in this school," Bevin exclaimed before Peyton had the chance to. "Have you seen what she wears? I swear that girl is a first class immigrant from Ewwtown."

"Excuse me?" Brooke finally spoke up from her position behind them. None of them knew that she was in there yet or they would have said hello already. They all jumped and turned around to see a very pissed off Brooke standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at all of them.

"Oh, hey, Brookie," Bevin greeted waving at her. Brooke cringed at the name, only Haley was allowed to call her that. "We were just discussing Pey's horrible fate with Ms. Freak Haley James. You know her?"

"Yeah, she's my best friend," Brooke stated. The squad looked at her like she was crazy before that started laughing. Brooke Davis, the most popular girl in school was best friends with Haley James? That couldn't be possible.

"Yeah, okay."

"I'm serious," Brooke restated. They soon realized from the look on her face that she wasn't kidding. She shook her head and glared at them. "Practice is cancelled, I'm suddenly not in the mood to hang around any of you."

"You've never cancelled practice before," Peyton pointed out, surprised at Brooke's attitude.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Brooke reminded them. She stalked back over to her locker and grabbed her clothes. Once they were in her hands she turned back around. "Oh and Peyton?"

"Yeah?"

"When you're with Haley," she warned. "If you say one mean thing to her, you're off the squad, got it?" Peyton's eyes widened and she nodded her head quickly. Nothing was more important to her than cheerleading, and Brooke knew that. With more glare, Brooke left the change room and walked towards the library. She pushed the swinging double doors open and spotted Haley sitting alone on the couch by the window. Haley heard footsteps and looked up, surprised to find Brooke in her uniform.

"Bunny?" She put the bookmark in her book and laid it on her lap.

"Hey, Huggie," Brooke smiled, flopping down on the couch beside her best friend. She curled her legs up under her and laid her head on Haley's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Haley questioned, looking down at Brooke. "Why aren't you at practice?" Brooke shrugged her shoulders and looked up at Haley with puppy dog eyes and flashed her a bright smile.

"I'd rather hang here with you."

..........FYITM..........

TBC?

I'm not sure if you guys still want me to keep going with this so, tell me what you think.


	3. Yay, Bondage Fun!

Author's Note: Hey, all. Thank you so much for all the great reviews for the last chapter, they were all great. I decided I'd update this on since it is Thanksgiving weekend here and I have absolutely nothing to do. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and continue to review.

..........FYITM..........

"Okay, class," the teacher, Miss Lake called out to the room full of noisy teenagers. Most of the students quieted down as she walked to the front of the class with a big stack of papers in her hands. "It's time to start a new project, our last one of the year."

"Oh, come on, Miss," Tim groaned from his spot at the back with the rest of the jocks. "Didn't we just finish one yesterday?"

"Yes, Timothy, we did," she smirked back at him, knowing that he hated it when she called him by his fill name. The rest of the class laughed at him and turned back to the teacher. They were used to the usual puns exchanged between the two, so they didn't take them too serious. "Now it's time for a new one."

"It wouldn't be on sleeping by any chance, would it?"

"And how would that be educational?

"We could sleep for a few days straight and see what it does to us," Nathan answered from his spot beside Tim. Brooke looked back at him and a look of disgust came to her face. She hated him, both Scott brothers. Nathan was dating Peyton and she thought that Lucas was dating Theresa this week, or maybe Bevin, she couldn't keep track anymore.

"Maybe you should talk to your science teacher about that one, Mr. Scott," she replied with a polite smile. "However, this is Personal Relations class so I don't think we can fit that little experiment into our curriculum."

"We could if we tried really hard," Lucas added in. Miss Lake glared at the three of them in the back before turning her attention back to the rest of the class.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that you will be doing this project in partners," she began. Brooke immediately turned around and smiled at Haley, telling her that they would be work together. Haley nodded her head, finding it funny that Brooke still asked. Of course they would be partners.

"Can I work with you, Miss?" Tim asked in his usual perverted tone. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her temper under control and ignored his question.

"As I was saying," she continued. "You can pick your partners, only one, there will be now groups of three. Once everyone is paired up I will explain the rest of the assignment."

The classroom suddenly erupted in noise as students got out of their desks to go find a partner. Brooke stood up and grabbed her stuff to bring over to Haley's desk when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and frowned when she saw who it was, Nathan Scott.

"Hey, Brooke," he greeted in the voice that she swore he reversed especially for her. She tried her best to choke down her hate for him and gave him a tight smile, before starting to turn away.

"Nathan," she replied back in a snappy tone. Haley watched the exchange with somewhat mild amusement. She knew how much Brooke hated Nathan and she still found it funny that he had no idea.

"I was wondering if you had a partner?" Brooke stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around. Did Nathan Scott just ask her to work with him? She smiled sweetly at Haley and turned around to smile at Nathan.

"Me?" she questioned in fake shock. "You want to work with me?" Nathan gave her that cocky smirk he always had plastered on his face and nodded his head. "Why aren't you working with your wife over there?"

"Tim?" he asked in disgust. He shook his head. "He's a dumbass. It won't do me any good to work with him, and then I'll be the smart one. Trust me, it's a sad day when I'm the smart one in a paring."

"You might wanna work on your sales pitch," she suggested, patting him on the arm a couple times. "I do sympathize with you, I really do, but I got a partner already. It kind of comes with the best friend territory, you know?"

"Oh," was all Nathan said. He looked around the room and didn't spot anyone from the cheerleading team there. "And who would that be?" Brooke smiled up at him with fake sweetness and slowly turned around, making sure to add an extra bounce in her step, and walked over to sit with Haley.

"Sorry, Nate," she called once she was seated and noticed that he was still staring after him. Nathan was more than a little confused at what just happened. First, did a girl just turn him down? And second, is Brooke Davis really best friends with Tutor Freak? He shook his head, muttered something under his breath and stalked back over to his seat beside Tim.

"I think you hurt his feelings," Haley teased as they watched Nathan brood in his seat. Brooke glanced over her shoulder and shrugged, feeling no sympathy for him.

"Then good for me, right?" she asked. "I mean, he's been nothing but a complete jackass to you since freshman year and he actually thought I'd pair up with him?"

"That's why you hate him?" Haley knew that Brooke hated Nathan, everyone but Nathan seemed to know that, but she never knew why. Haley just assumed he had turned her down for Peyton at one point or something. She never thought it was over something that he did to her. "Because he was mean to me?"

"That's not a good enough reason?" Brooke questioned. "It's rule number one in the Best Friend's Handbook, okay. I'm supposed to hate anyone that's rude to you, and if Nathan Scott doesn't fit perfectly into that category, than I don't know who does."

"I can think of a few," Haley mumbled under her breath. Haley was pretty much used to the daily remarks she received from other kid's at the school and she knew that Brooke would go crazy if she was told about half the things that people said to her, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"You just name them and I got the rest covered." Before Haley had a chance to respond, Miss Lake walked back to the front of the class.

"Everyone have a partner?" she asked the class. When she received a yes from everyone, she pulled up her stool and took a seat. "Now, can anyone guess what this project will be about?"

"Human sexuality?" Tim blurted out.

"That would be your wishful thinking, Mr. Smith," she responded with a friendly smirk. She really didn't like him even if she pretended that she did. She was just so happy that she was finally going to be rid of him soon enough. "Anyone else?"

"Background?"

"Sort of," she answered, happy that a least one student in her class paid some attention to what she taught. "This project is going to be done in different steps. If everything goes according to plan, it should last us to the end of the year."

"Will this be on the exam?" asked Haley.

"Actually, this is the exam." This earned her a lot of confused looks from the kids so she hurried to explain. "On exam day, instead of writing an exam, you'll all be doing a presentation on what you've learned."

"That's killer," Tim exclaimed. Nothing made him happier than not having to study for something. "So what's the deal with this first step or whatever?"

"I was just getting to that," she snipped at him in annoyance. Sensing her the anger in her tone, he smiled at her. "Who here has important plans this weekend?" Most of the students raise their hands. "Great. Cancel them."

"And why would we do that?" Lucas questioned. He was one of the biggest partiers in the school, aside from his brother and Brooke, so if someone asked him to give up his chance at a night out, they were crazy.

"Because you will be tied up," she explained with a smirk. She reached behind her to dig into her bag and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Literally."

"Bondage fun!" Tim cheered with a horny look on his face. "Finally, coming to school has paid off. Choosing to ignore his rude outburst, she rolled her eyes and addressed the rest of the class.

"Starting after school today, you and your partner will be handcuffed together for the entire weekend." She grabbed a hold of the handle of her bag and pulled it up to sit on the desk in front of her. "You will all come back here after school so I can lock you up."

"What is the point of this?" Nathan asked, eyeing the medal bracelets that Miss Lake was holding up. He glanced over at Tim and grimaced. He was not looking forward to being attached to Tim for 48 hours. Sure, he was his best friend, but he could only take so much Tim tine.

"To learn more about each other," she explained. "I let you all pick your partners because I figured you pick the person you are closest to in the class. In putting you together for a weekend, I'm hoping it will give you a chance to understand more about that person."

"So this is all weekend?" Nathan questioned. Miss Lake nodded. "I'm not sharing a bed with him!" The rest of the class started arguing and talking amongst themselves. Brooke watched them for a moment, not understanding what the big deal was. She'll get to spend the whole weekend with her best friend in the whole world. Where was the bad in that?

"This should be fun," Brooke giggled, nudging Haley with her elbow. Haley laughed at the expression on Brooke's face and nodded. She didn't know what it was or how she did it, but every time Brooke laughed it seemed to be contagious.

"A blast."

"So, you're bed or mine?"

..........FYITM..........

Okay, so that is officially the worst chapter I have ever written, for anything, but I'm so tired right now and really wanted to get you guys an update so that's the best I could come up with. The next chapter will be better, I promise. Please tell me what you think.


	4. Strange Feelings Wash Over Me

Author's Note: Sorry, it's been awhile. I've had all weekend to update, but I just wasn't able to find the energy to sit my ass down and type. Finally, I just decided that I had to do it, no matter how tired or distracted I am. So, I'm doing this just for you guys, so you better review it and like it! Okay, so you don't have to like it, but I'd really like a review, so I know what you guys want to see and everything. Anyway, here's your update; I hope you enjoy it.

..........FYITM..........

"Hey, Brooke." Brooke turned around as she was walking out of her last period class when she heard her name being called. She spotted Felix making his way over to her. She rolled her eyes and groaned; she hated him. If it were possible, she hated him more than she hated Nathan.

"Felix," she mumbled when he was just a few feet away. He laid a hand on her back and led her out of the doorway so they could talk. She immediately squirmed out of his grip and turned to face him, her disgust for him could be read clearly. "What do you want?"

"I love that about you," Felix commented, giving her that smile that he thought made all the girl's weak in the knees. She tried to control the sudden urge to hurl all over his shoes. "I like a girl that's not afraid to call 'em like she sees 'em."

"Okay," she said, her scowl turning into a sweet smile. She leaned forward, slowing running her finger down his chest before taking a handful of his shirt and pulling him towards her so she could whisper in his ear. She felt him shiver when he felt her breath tickle his neck. "This shirt makes you look gay."

"Wha..." he mumbled, surprised by the words. She laughed, roughly pushing him away from her and smiling at him. It took him a moment to recover before he straightened his shirt out and swung his bag over his shoulder again. "So, I wanted to ask you something."

"Make it quick," she ordered, all the fake sweetness completely disappearing from her voice and face. She was hoping he would have gotten the message from her display just a moment ago, but she really should have known better. He had some strange notion that she wanted him and it was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Well, I noticed that your parents aren't home..."

"They're never home," she pointed out dryly, wanting him to get to his point as soon as possible. She really didn't want to be talking to him, she wanted to go find Haley, but for some reason, God felt that she needed to be punished.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight?" he asked, ignoring her comment. He looked her up and down and she almost shivered at the attention. He was such a creep and she felt sick just being in his presence. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that she would ever touch him let alone spend an entire night with him voluntarily.

"Sorry, I've got plans with a girlfriend," she answered with a smirk. As if she was listening to the whole conversation, Haley suddenly appeared just down the hall. She spotted Brooke talking to Felix and had to stop the smirk from coming to her face. She knew how much Brooke hated him and couldn't imagine how mad she was right now. So, being the dutiful best friend that she was, she made her way over to the pair to rescue her buddy.

"Hey, guys," she greeted with wave, immediately moving to Brooke's side. Brooke almost sighed with relief at the eight of Haley, but manage to hold it in. Felix on the other hand, was annoyed at her presence and was trying to figure out why she was there in the first place. "What's up?"

"Excuse me," he snipped rudely, eyeing Haley. Both girls looked at him to see what his problem was. "We were just making plans to go out tonight. So, if you don't mind, can you please get lost? Go to the library or something. That's where you people like to go isn't it?"

"Oh," was all Haley said. As much as his words hurt, it was worth it because she knew what was coming next. She glanced over and saw the enraged look on Brooke's face and couldn't help the smirk that came to her lips. She didn't know what she would do without Brooke.

"Look, Felix," Brooke began, stepping away from Haley so she was closer to the boy in front of them. "Here's a little bit of advice. Next time you want to get with a girl, it's probably not a good idea to be rude to her best friend." She looked back at Haley and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Oh, I didn't... I wasn't sure..."

"Bye now," Brooke cheered, cutting him off before he continued with his babbling. They both laughed at the expression on his face as they walked over with their arms linked. Once they were around the corner, they soon broke down in giggles, finding it funny that the great Felix was speechless.

"Did you see his face, Bunny?" Haley laughed, pumping hips with her as they continued walking. It kind of hurt that he found it so surprising that she could possible be friends with someone as amazing as Brooke, but it wasn't like it was the first time the thought had crossed her mind. "That was priceless."

"It certainly was," Brooke agreed. She knew that Haley was a little hurt, but she was just glad that she wasn't openly upset about it. She was happy that Haley was starting to worry less about what other people think. "But he's a jerk, Huggie. I'm just glad that he's finally been put in his place. Hopefully."

"But it's Felix," Haley pointed out, smiling slightly at Brooke's attempt to be slick about telling her not to care about what Felix thinks. "He's never really been able to take a hint."

"This is true," Brooke agreed, nodding her head. Deciding that she didn't want to take about her stalker any longer, she changed the subject. "I just got to stop off at my locker and then we can head upstairs to get our purtty new bracelets, kay?"

"Sure." They rounded the corner and headed to Brooke's locker. "So, what's the plan for that, anyway? We never did decide if we wanted to stay at me house or yours. I mean, both our parental units are going to be away so it doesn't really matter, right."

"But Felix will be home," Brooke pointed out as they stopped in front of her locker. She quickly opened, swung her bag to her front and started piling her books inside. "And since I have no desire to see him every time I look out a window, we'll crashing at your house. Besides, I love your house. It's more homey."

"You mean, small?" Haley asked with a smile. It was never really a big deal that their parents made a different amount of money. Brooke lived in the biggest mansion in Tree Hill, just a few acres bigger than the Scott mansion, while Haley lived in a little house with two bathrooms and three bedrooms.

"I mean, homey," Brooke restated. Before Haley had a chance to respond, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and smiled when she saw Jake standing there, a guy from the basketball team that she used to tutor.

"Hey, Jake," she greeted with a warm smile. She always liked Jake, he was so sweet. He wasn't like any of the other guys on the team, he never said anything rude to her or looked down on her. They would always talk about stuff when they were done the lesson for the day. He was probably the only other person besides Brooke that she would consider to be a friend.

"Hey, Haley," he replied, smiling back at her. Brooke watched the exchange out of the corner of her eye, trying to see if Jake was really being nice to her or just doing something that was ordered by Nathan. "I haven't seen you in a while, I just wanted to see how you were."

"That's so sweet of you," she gushed. Brooke rolled her eyes at Haley's horrible attempt at flirting. Brooke loved Haley to death, but she couldn't flirt for the life of her. "I was just thinking about you." It took everything in Brooke's power not to clap her hand over Haley's mouth to shut her up.

"That's good to know," Jake said back with a sickeningly sweet tone in his voice. Brooke shook her head, ashamed at their actions. "I really miss hanging out with you." Brooke stopped her movements at the words for a spilt second before getting her composure back. She glanced over at them and saw the smiles plastered on both their faces and was confused at the feelings that started in her gut.

"Aw, I really miss hanging out with you too." Brooke tried to shake off the feeling as she finished with her books and checked her face in the mirror before shutting the door and leaning against it.

"Maybe we should hang out sometime," Jake suggested. A smile that lit up Haley's entire face appeared on her lips and she had to stop herself from giggling. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that he was asking her out on a date.

"I'd really like that," she answered, just barely able to contain the giggle. Brooke watched them with uneasy eyes, trying to figure out what the new feelings were that were stirring at watching her best friend getting asked out. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that she didn't like it.

"I'll give you a call then." Jake smiled at her and nodded in Brooke's direction, before taking off down the hall. Haley watched after him for a moment before turning around to face Brooke, a smile of pure ecstasy on her face.

"Oh my God," she squealed, clapping her hands together in an excited manner. "Can you believe what just happened? He was so sweet and I've never been on a date before, but you know that. God, I hope he calls." She was neither jumping up and down when she noticed that Brooke wasn't paying attention to her. "Brookie? Brooke, do you even know what just happened?"

"Huh?" Brooke asked, finally coming out of her trance. She looked over at Haley and almost flinched at the bright smile that lit up her face. And the realization that Jake was responsible for putting it there just seemed to make it worse. Who did he think he was, anyway? Where did he get the nerve to just walk up and take her Haley away like that... 'Oh, God,' Brooke thought when it finally hit her. 'I'm jealous.'

"You okay, Bunny?" Haley asked, noticing the strange look on Brooke's face. She hadn't said anything for a few moments and she was looking kind of confused at the moment. Brooke shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts out of her brain.

"Right as rain, baby," she answered, glad that her voice didn't crack. She was trying to brush off that weird feeling, not wanting to give it too much thought. She was afraid that if she did, she would find something that was better left undiscovered. Not wanting to have to answer any more questions that Haley might have, she quickly linked their arms together again and started pulling her towards the stairs.

"You sure?" Haley asked. She knew that Brooke was acting weird and she could tell that there was something bothering her.

"Yeppers," Brooke answered with cheerfulness. Haley was hoping that Brooke would make this easy on her, but Brooke liked to try and hide her feelings. Too bad it wouldn't work this time. They were going to be locked at the wrist the entire weekend and Haley was going to find out what was up with Brooke if it was the last thing she did.

..........FYITM..........

Sorry if that was lame and really rushed, but I kind of wanted to get some of the feelings to start to surface and that was the only thing I could think of a the moment. I hope that's okay and you guys aren't disappointed. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Thanks.


	5. Let's Get to Know Each Other

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone. Sorry that it's been such a long time since my last update, but school is really starting to kick my ass and I needed to focus on that for a little while. Anyway, with Christmas break coming up really soon (YAY) I'm hoping that I'll be able to update more since I probably won't get as much homework. Okay, so I hope you like this chapter. I think it will have more of Brooke's changing feelings for Haley, so stay tuned.

**……….FYITM……….**

"You mad that you didn't take Nathan up on his offer now?" Haley asked as she opened the front door of her house and brought her and Brooke inside. They both dropped their bags on the floor beside the door and walked further into the house.

"Are you kidding?" Brooke asked, following Haley around the house as she did her usual after school activities like clean the dishes her brother left that morning, getting everything out for dinner and grabbing a snack. Haley looked at her questioningly as she held the fridge open. "Just a Coke and a few cookies."

"Of course," Haley rolled her eyes. She really shouldn't have asked. Brooke had been having the exact same thing at Haley's house for the past fifteen years. It was just something that Haley should know by now.

"We doing homework now or what?" Everyday after school Brooke would go to Haley's house, or Haley would go to Brooke's house, except if there was either tutoring conflicts or cheerleading practice and everyday they went straight into the bedroom and got their homework done with.

"Don't we always?"

"I just didn't know with these shiny new bracelets," Brooke explained, tugging on her arm so Haley would be jerked out of the fridge. The other girl laughed and handed Brooke her Coke before moving them over to get the cookies. "I wasn't sure if we wanted to watch some television…"

As Haley stood up on her tiptoes to grab the box of cookies from the top shelf, Brooke couldn't help but notice the way her shirt rode up to show of her toned stomach. Brooke's eyes locked on the flash of skin as if she were looking at a naked Brad Pitt. She didn't know why, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She began to imagine what it would be like if she were just to walk up behind Haley and wrap her arms around the girl's slim waist.

Brooke shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out. Where the hell were all these thoughts coming from? It's not like it was the first time she had even seen Haley's stomach before, they'd been best friends forever. Hell, she's seen her completely topless. Brooke had never had this type of reaction towards Haley's body before.

"Bunny?" Haley called for the third time. She had noticed a far off look on Brooke's face when she had turned towards her. It took Brooke a few moments to realize that the girl was calling her name and she quickly shook her head.

"Huh?" Brooke blinked a few times to get Haley's face back into focus before starting to speak again. She wasn't sure how she should take the assumed smile that Haley had placed firmly on her lips. "I'm sorry, Huggie, did you say something?"

"I was just giving you your cookies," Haley answered, handing her the food but not taking her eyes off of her best friend. Brooke took them out of Haley's hands and became uneasy under her gaze.

"What?"

"What were you thinking about?" Brooke's eyes widened and she felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks. She certainly couldn't answer that question. Brooke racked her brain for an answer. "Thinking about Travis?"

"Who's Trav …" Brooke began asking, her thoughts still completely consumed by everything about her best friend at the moment. Before she could finish asking the question, she remembered their whole conversation the night before. "Oh right, my soul mate, Travis. Yeah, that's who I was thinking about." Haley watched the panic on her face and raised an eyebrow. "I can't him out of my head."

"Right," Haley nodded, clearly not believing her. That was the second time in the past eighty minutes that Brooke had zoned out like that. Now Haley was really starting to get interested. Brooke gave her a look, pleading with to just drop it. Haley nodded and gave her a smile. "So, homework?"

"Yes, please," Brooke answered quickly. She never thought she's see that day when she was thankful for homework, but she would take anything that would stop this conversation. "Let's go."

The girls stretched out on Haley's bed and finished their homework in what felt like record time for Brooke. Normally, she complained endlessly about the amount of homework they received every night, but tonight seemed less then normal. It amazed Brooke how she was almost failing more than half her classes when she did her homework with the smartest girl in school every night. Maybe she should pay attention in class.

"So, now what?" Haley asked, throwing her books on the floor. Both girls found it somewhat hard to write when they were handcuffed together, but they somehow managed without killing each other and now Haley was ready for a break. "My head hurts from all that book learning."

"Seriously?" Brooke asked, sitting up and leaning against the headboard beside Haley. She glanced over at her best friend and felt weak in the knees when she saw the pout Haley had placed on her lips. She quickly looked away and tried to remain clam while thoughts of Pouty Haley floated around her head. "I thought you dug all this crap."

"Just cause I'm good at it, doesn't mean I like it."

"Then why do you do it?" Brooke was surprised at the new information; Haley was always doing some form of homework when she came over, she assumed she enjoyed it. Not to mention the fact that she tutored kids and always offered to help Brooke with work or studying.

"Nothing better to do," Haley answered in a sad voice. "Besides, that's what people expect of me right? They assume that just because I'm not a cheerleader or a stoner, then that must mean I'm a brain." She had to admit that it hurt a little that her best friend didn't even realize that her whole bookworm thing was just an act.

"I had no idea." Brooke felt bad that she fit into that category of the people that assumed things about Haley. She hated when people pigeonholed her into the bitchy cheerleader persona and she couldn't believe she had done that to her best friend.

"Don't worry about it," Haley waved her off. Just knowing that Brooke felt bad about it was enough to make Haley feel better. "Nobody knew."

"But I'm not just anybody, Hales," Brooke told her. Deciding she would be able to keep her hormones in check for the time being, she reached over and took Haley's hand in her own. "I'm your best friend, and I should know everything about you."

"You do, Bunny," Haley assured her. She was lying through her teeth, and she hated it. "You do know everything about me." 'At least the stuff I want you to know,' Haley finished in her thoughts.

"Obviously not," Brooke answered back in a bitter tone. Brooke Davis wasn't a very good daughter, or student, or girlfriend, but if there was one thing she took pride in, it was that she was the greatest best friend in the world. Brooke nodded her head decisively and turned to look at her best friend. 'God, when did she get so cute?

"What?" Haley knew the look in Brooke's eyes. She was far too familiar with it and it never led to good things. Brooke just gave her a bright smile and raised an eyebrow at her.

"She whole point of this little project is to get to know each other better, right?"

"I guess…"

"Then that's what we're gonna do," Brooke decided. "I know we've been best friends for fifteen years, but like they say; you learn something new everyday."

"Well, this should be fun," Haley replied sarcastically. She loved Brooke more than anything, but there were some really dark things in her life that she would rather not share with the bubbly brunette. Brooke flashed her some dimples and nudged her lightly with her shoulder.

"Of course it will," Brooke told her. "I'm here silly." It took everything in her not to jump Haley right there as she rolled her eyes. There was just something about the usually sweet girl when she was annoyed that made her hotter than usual. 'Where the hell is this coming from?' Brooke shook her head and focused back on Haley. "So, what's your darkest secret?"

**……….FYITM……….**

I know it wasn't that great, but there will be more feelings and secrets revealed in later chapters so don't worry. I hope you liked this anyway and please tell me what you think. Thanks.


	6. My Dirty Little Secret

Author's Note: Hey, all. I'm really sorry that it has taken me so long to update this. I know what I want to happen, I'm just having trouble deciding how I want it to happen. After weeks of putting it off, I've just decided that I'm going to sit down and start typing, see where my fingers take me, I guess. Well, we'll see what happens. So if this chapter is a pile of crap, that's why. Enjoy.

……….FYITM………..

"Brooke, do we really have to do this right now?" Haley asked, eyeing Brooke to see if she was really serious about this or not. She knew Brooke well enough to know that she was more than likely dead serious about playing this little game. Brooke Davis lived for stuff like this.

"Of course we do," Brooke answered. Just like Haley knew her, Brooke knew Haley just as well. She was well aware that Haley didn't like games like this, she just wasn't sure why. It's not as if she had something to hide, right? Or did she? "We have nothing better to do."

"We can watch a movie," Haley suggested, pointing to the television across the room with the hand that wasn't attached to Brooke's. She was really starting to hate this whole handcuff thing. It was times like these that she wished she could just run away.

"But I wanna take about us," Brooke pouted. Haley sighed at the tone in her best friend's voice. Whenever Brooke got like that, there was no arguing with her. She always got what she wanted. Brooke tugged on Haley's arm and brought it into her lap. "Please, Huggie?"

"I really don't want to, Brooke." Haley looked at Brooke with the look she used to use on her grandmother when she was visiting for Christmas. Brooke felt her insides melt at the look. She didn't think it was possible for any human being to look that adorable and for a second she was about to give in.

"Don't even try that look on me, Hales," she warned her, trying to make her voice sound as if the look Haley was giving her wasn't affecting her in any way. "We are playing this game, and we are playing it now. So, I repeat, what is your darkest secret?"

"If this is your idea," Haley began. "Why don't you go first?" She was trying to buy time, both girls knew that, but Brooke nodded. Haley sighed in relief. She didn't understand why she was stressing over this, it's not like she was really going to tell Brooke what she had been doing to herself. She was just afraid that Brooke would somehow be able to see right through her.

"Fine," Brooke agreed in a defeated tone. She and Haley both rearranged themselves so they were comfortable. Brooke watched Haley out of the corner of her eye as she tried to decide whether she should really tell Haley what she was hiding. She did just figure it out herself and she wasn't exactly sure what her feelings were at the moment. "Okay, so my darkest secret?"

"That was the question." Even though Haley was really nervous about when Brooke asked her, she was a little curious as to what Brooke was going to say. She had been noticing that something was off about the other girl all afternoon, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well," Brooke started, her eyes on the comforter underneath her. Her left hand was picking at the thread beside her leg. "Lately, and by lately I mean just today, I've noticed that I'm starting to have feelings for someone." There, she said it. That wasn't so bad. Nothing horrible happened. Haley didn't run screaming from the room. Then again, she didn't tell Haley that she was the one that she was crushing on.

"That's your dark secret?" Haley asked. If that was Brooke's biggest secret, this wasn't fair. What Haley was hiding was about a hundred times worse than that. There was no way that was a fair trade. Brooke nodded. "That you have a crush on someone?"

"I think it's more than a crush," Brooke answered without thinking. She quickly looked away from Haley. She was afraid that if she looked into Haley's eyes, her best friend would now how she was feeling some how. As if was, she was having enough trouble trying to form coherent sentences when she was sitting this close to Haley, she didn't want to have to deal with looking into Haley's deep brown eyes.

"Really?" Haley's interest was heightened a little bit more at the new information. Brooke Davis wasn't one to have deep feelings for someone. Even Travis, who she claims is the love of her life, she doesn't really have feelings for. She says she does, but Haley knows that even Brooke doesn't believe that. Brooke nodded. "Like, you think you're in love with them?"

"Um," Brooke stuttered. She risked a quick glance at Haley, trying to decide what her answer was. She only saw Haley's face for a split second, but it was enough to make up her mind. She let out a breath, surprised at herself. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Whoa," Haley let out, her eyes widening. "That is big news. Though, I don't know if that qualifies as a dark secret. Especially if you don't tell me who it is." Brooke's eyes almost bulged out of her head and if she had had anything in her mouth, it would have been all over Haley's bedspread at this point. Haley caught the look on her face and now she really wanted to know what was so big about this. "Who is it?"

"It's no one you know," Brooke answered, too quickly. She silently cursed herself for acting like such a spaz. All she wanted to do was make Haley feel a little bit more comfortable and now all of a sudden the tables had been turned on her. She saw that Haley wasn't buying it at all. "Seriously, Huggie, it's no one."

"Sure it is," Haley answered, raising an eyebrow to show Brooke that she didn't believe a word she said. Haley was about to ask Brooke again who the person was, when a thought came to her. Why was she so excited about this? So, Brooke thinks she's in love with someone, what's the big deal? There wasn't really to get excited about, right? Unless… _'No! Do not even think it! There is no way that I was hoping she was talking about me!'_

"Huggie?" Brooke asked, noticing the freaked out look on Haley's face. One second she was perfectly fine and the next Haley looked like she was about to pass out. What the hell happened? "Huggie? Haley." Finally, Haley snapped out of her daze at the use of her first name.

"Huh?"

"What happened there?" Judging by the deer caught in headlights look that was on Haley's face, she wasn't about to tell her what happened, so Brooke just shook her head. "Never mind. It's your turn now."

"My turn?" Haley gulped. She quickly looked around the room for something to help her out, but there was nothing. There was no way she was going to get out of telling Brooke the truth. Her eyes eventually landed on Brooke's cheery face, telling her exactly what she had been thinking. There's no way out.

"Come on," Brooke cheered, turned her body so she was facing Haley. She pushed Haley's knee playfully as a way to coax her into playing. "I told you all about me, not you have to tell me your darkest secret."

"I really don't want…" Before Haley had a chance to finish her sentence, the ringing phone beside her interrupted her. Never in a million years did she think that she'd be happy to hear the phone ring. She smile triumphantly at Brooke, who was frowning and glaring as she reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey," came the familiar voice on the other line. A smile quickly graced her lips and Brooke started running over all the people in her head that could be on the other end of that phone.

"Hey, Jake," Haley gushed. Brooke narrowed her eyes and she felt her hands turn into fists as she heard the disgustingly sweet tone in her voice. Brooke knew that voice, she'd used that voice. It was never good and she didn't like that fact that some guy was making Haley use it. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," he answered. It took her a moment to realize that his voice wasn't the same as it was in the hallway just a few hours before. At school he had sounded so shy and happy, and now he sounded guilty and regretful. "I actually have some bad news."

"Oh really?" Haley's heart sank at the words and she knew exactly where this was going. Yeah, she'd never had a boyfriend or ever gone on a date, but she knew when she was getting dumped. She had seen Brooke do it enough times. Brooke watched as Haley's face fell and she suddenly felt terrible for being so angry that he called. She should have been Haley for her friend.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I got back together with Nicki this afternoon. She told me she was sorry about what she did and I thought it was…"

"It's okay, Jake," she cut him off. She didn't need an explanation and she really didn't want one. He didn't want to go out with her, that's all she needed to know. It wasn't that surprising really. _'I should have known that no one would want to go out with me. Stupid.'_

"I'm really sorry about…"

"Bye." Without another word, Haley slammed the phone down and sighed. She closed her eyes and tried to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. She didn't want Brooke to see her cry. She'd probably think she was being a baby. Her and Jake hadn't even gone out and she was already crying over him?

Brooke stared at Haley's back and she knew she was about to cry. Since they were still attached by the handcuffs, Brooke's arm was pulled over and it forced her to move closer. She sighed and wrapped the locked arm around Haley waist, pulling her body towards her. She felt Haley starting to cry and Brooke buried her head in Haley's shoulder, laying a soft kiss on her skin. She tried her best to ignore the sensation of Haley's skin against her's.

"I'm sorry, Huggie," Brooke whispered into Haley's hair. She felt Haley nod her head, but she couldn't hear her response since her face was buried in Brooke's chest. "It's okay. He's a jerk anyway." Brooke didn't even know what Jake had said, but she knew all she needed to know. Jake turned down Haley so he had to be crazy. "And he's an idiot."

"I tutored him," Haley answered, pushing her face out of Brooke's shirt. "He's not stupid." Brooke couldn't help but notice how close their faces were and she had to fight everything in her to stop herself from kissing Haley.

"Trust me, baby," Brooke whispered. "If he gave you up, he's an idiot." Haley searched Brooke's eyes to see if she really meant what she said. After seeing no trace of lying in her eyes, Haley smiled slightly at her.

"Thanks, Bunny." Brooke nodded and pulled Haley back into another hug. This felt so right to her. Having Haley here in her arms. It was as if they fit perfectly together. Brooke shut her eyes and wrapped her arms even tighter around the girl. "I love you."

"God, I love you too." Brooke waited to see if Haley would notice the change in her voice and suddenly understand the hidden meaning behind the words. She let out a sigh of relief when Haley didn't say anything. Her secret was safe for now, but se knew it was only a matter of time before everything got out.

……….FYITM……….

I'm sorry it that wasn't very good, but it was the best I could do at the moment. Please tell me what you think. Thanks for reading.


	7. My First Kiss

_Author's Note:_ Hey, everyone. I'm really sorry that it's been so long since I updated, but I'm back. I just finished my last exam for this semester and I'm off for the next few days so hopefully I'll be able to update more. I'm not sure where I'm going with this story, so it really could go anywhere; just know that it will be a Baley fic, because I absolutely adore them together. Even Joie and Soph together are too cute for words. Anyway, I'm hoping to work Peyton in here more because I love her too and hate to make her the bitch, but I'm not too sure about that either. Anyway, just read this update and be sure to tell me what you guys think. Thanks.

**……….FYITM………**

The first thing that Brooke noticed when she woke up was the sunlight streaming through the window. The second thing she noticed was the body she was wrapped around. For a moment she was panicked, thinking that she had hooked up with another random guy, but then she remembered where she was. A soft smile appeared on her lips as she realized that it wasn't some man whore or college stoner, it was just her bestest friend in the entire world.

After almost a half an hour Brooke had finally been able to calm Haley down enough to get her to go to sleep. Actually, to be more specific, Haley had fallen asleep in her arms after she had finished crying herself to exhaustion. It had killed Brooke to hear Haley crying like she was because she wasn't used to it. Usually Haley won't cry in front of her. She might get upset, but she rarely ever cried and certainly not like she had last night.

Brooke knew that Haley wasn't just crying over what happened with Jake. Hell, she didn't even think that Haley cared about him that much to care. She knew that it went deeper than that. Getting rejected like that was just the last straw. She was sick of always being looked over or teased because she was smart and not some brainless slut.

Haley was so used to getting ignored by her parents and not getting any attention at school, but when Jake asked her out, it made everything seem okay. It was like maybe she wasn't some kind of freak after all. So for him to call and cancel on her, it cut really deep. Something inside of her just broke and the damn burst over.

"Huggie?" Brooke whispered, checking to see if Haley was awake or not. She pulled back so she could see Haley's face better. Her smile grew when she saw how adorable Haley looked when she was sleeping. She couldn't' believe she had never noticed how constantly beautiful Haley looked. It was no secret that Haley was a pretty girl, but it seemed that with her new feelings towards her, Brooke was finding it hard to control herself.

Brooke took a moment to memorize Haley's features. Her adorable nose, the perfect eyebrows and those oh so kissable lips. Brooke could just imagine what it would feel like to kiss those lips. Though, she didn't really have to think too hard, considering she already knew what it was like.

She couldn't believe that she had forgotten about that day. Well, not forgotten so much as repressed. She knew that if she thought about it too much, she would go absolutely insane. As she came to think about it, maybe her sudden attraction to Haley wasn't so sudden. Maybe she felt this way all along. Brooke couldn't resist, she reached forward and kissed Haley gently on the forehead.

"Bunny?" Haley mumbled, just coming to. She could feel someone's arms around her and a female body pressed against her, definitely a female body. She knew there could only be one possible person on the face of that planet that would be cuddling with her like this. And that was Brooke. She finally opened her eyes to see Brooke staring at her. "Brookie?"

"Morning," Brooke finally grumbled back. Even though she sounded miserably, she certainly didn't look like it. If Haley didn't know any better, she'd say that Brooke was quite happy actually. She had a glazed over look in her eyes and was still staring at Haley. "How was your sleep?"

"It was restful," Haley answered, eyeing Brooke strangely, trying to figure out what was up with her. She also noticed that neither of them had made any move to break their embrace, though neither was complaining either. "What are you looking at?"

"You," Brooke answered without a second thought. She didn't know why, but all of sudden she didn't really care if Haley found out about her feelings. She knew that Haley wouldn't hold them against her, if they could get through everything that their relationship has already survived, this would be nothing.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Brooke answered, moving one of her hands off of Haley's back to poke her in the nose. She almost melted at how cute Haley looked when she scrunched up her face like that.

"Do I have something on my face?" Haley quickly brought her hands up to check to see if there was something on her face. "Was I drooling?"

"You never drool," Brooke reassured her. Considering they almost always ended up sleeping at each other's houses every night, she knew Haley's sleeping habits quite well. "You are known to snore occasionally, but never drool."

"Thanks, that's reassuring," Haley laughed, still wondering what Brooke was so fascinated with. She was still staring at her like she was a piece of meat. "If I'm drool free then why are you staring at me?"

Brooke tried to think of the right thing to say. Yeah, she knew that Haley wouldn't end their friendship because of something like this, but that didn't mean she was just going to come right out and tell her she had the hots for her. If Haley was ever going to know, she'd have to fight out on her own because there was no way that Brooke was going to tell her.

Even though there was a very big chance that Haley would get freaked out if she asked about it now, she also knew she couldn't lie to her. She and Haley had been best friends all their lives, Haley knew her way to well. She could always tell when she was lying, just like Brooke could tell when Haley was.

"Do you remember your fourteenth birthday?" Haley's eyes grew wide at the question and she immediately broke eye contact with the other girl. She took a gulp of air and shifted her position slightly so the handcuffs weren't digging into her side anymore.

"Yeah," Haley answered in a soft voice. It took everything inside of her to not picture that night in her head. As much as she hated to admit it, hardly a day went by when she didn't think about it. She swallowed again. "I think my parents called from Cube that year."

"You know what I'm talking about, Haley." That was all Haley needed to know to understand that Brooke was being serious. That was the only time Brooke ever called her by her full first name, when she was dead serious about something. "We were sitting right there. It was like five minutes till midnight…"

"I remember okay," Haley cut her off. This was so not how she wanted to start the day off. Even though it still meant the world to her, she didn't like talking about it with Brooke because she knew it didn't mean the same to her. Brooke smiled slightly at her, finding her rosy cheeks to be quite endearing. "God, of course I remember."

"We were sitting right there…"

_"Yeah, Dad," Haley mumbled into the phone for what felt like the millionth time. She hated that her parents didn't even have the decency to come home on her own birthday. And the fact that they called just made it worse. That just meant that they knew they were away on their daughter's birthday; they just didn't care. At least with no phone call, she could think they just forgot. "It was nice talking to you too."_

_Haley glanced at the clock and frowned when she saw that it was almost midnight and Brooke still wasn't there yet. She had been waiting for almost an hour. If she didn't hurry her ass up, she was going to miss her birthday all together. It was their tradition every year, that Brooke would come over with a cupcake and a single candle and they'd spend the night watching chick flicks or horror movies. Even though her parents were never there, it was always Haley's favorite day of the entire year. _

_"Knock, knock," came Brooke sweet voice at the door. She stuck her head in the door, a bright smile on her face because she knew her best friend would be in a sad mood cause her parents didn't come home again. Haley smiled and waved her in, rolling her eyes to tell her that she just wished her father would shut up. _

_"Yeah," she agreed with whatever her dad had said, she hadn't been paying attention since Brooke came into the room. "Well, maybe next year you can remember not to book your cruise during my birthday." Brooke frowned at her and plopped down on the bed beside her, laying a supportive hand on her thigh. "Whatever, goodbye, Dad. I'll say hi to Brooke for you." With that, she hung up._

_"I'm sorry, babe," Brooke told her, moving her arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug, careful not to ruin the cupcake in her other hand. "It's totally their lose though."_

_"I know, Bunny." They stayed like that for a few moments until there was just five minutes left of her birthday. _

_"Okay, okay," Brooke announced, suddenly pulling away from their embrace and bringing her other hand in front of her. "It is now time for our grand tradition of a chocolate cupcake at midnight for the Birthday Girl." Haley smiled and clapped; holding her hands out so Brooke could give her the cupcake. _

_"Yum, Brookie," Haley commented when the treat was placed in her hands. She was surprised to see that it appeared to be homemade considering Brooke usually bought it from the bakery. "Did you bake this yourself?" Brooke nodded and gave her a proud smile, flashing all of her dimples. _

_"It was all me," she declared, quite proud of herself. She knew that Haley was going to be extra sad this year since her parents had been gone since forever, and she thought that if she put some more effort into it, Haley would see that she loved her more than anything. "Anything for my Huggie Bear, you know that."_

_"I do know that."_

_"Now," Brooke said, lighting the candle with a smirk. "Make a wish. And don't you dare thing of wasting it on those no good parents of yours. They don't deserve you or your wishes." Haley smiled at Brooke; amused at the hatred she had for them. As much as Haley was mad at them for always leaving her alone, she could never bring herself to hate them; they were her parents after all. Besides, Brooke carried enough hate for the both of them. _

_She glanced at Brooke one last time before closing her eyes to think of the perfect wish. Brooke watched her as she thought of what she wanted the most. Brooke hated that Haley could want so many things. She was only fourteen years old, picking a wish should be easy enough; I want a new pair of jeans. It broke her heart to know that Haley was probably wishing for something much more simpler than that, probably just the love of her parents. _

_"Okay, I got it." She didn't wait for Brooke to say anything before she reached forward and blew out the candle. It's not like she expected it to come true or anything, for the past ten years she had been making wishes on one of those candles and not one of them had come true yet. Once the light was completely out, Haley opened her eyes and meet Brooke's before leaning back and placing the cupcake on her nightstand._

_"What did you wish for?" she asked in a whisper. She didn't know why she was asking, she knew it was bad luck to tell someone what your wish was, but she had to ask. She always wondered what Haley wanted the most. Haley was about to tell her that it was bad luck, but then she remember that not telling never did her any good either so she might as well. She gave Brooke a sad smile._

_"For someone to love me," Haley answered with a shrug, her voice below a whisper. If Brooke hadn't been sitting so close, she probably wouldn't have heard it. Brooke searched Haley's eyes to see if she was being serious and her heart nearly burst into a million pieces when she saw just how serious she was. Did she really think that no one loved her? "Just one person."_

_"I love you," Brooke whispered, perhaps for the first time realizing just how much. She was only a fourteen-year-old girl, she didn't really know much about this kind of stuff yet. "More than anything."_

_"Bunny, you don't have to…" She couldn't finish her sentence because Brooke's mouth was suddenly covering her mouth. It took her a moment to register what was happening and she moved into action. She never been kissed before and she knew that Brooke hadn't either because she would have told her about it. They were both inexperienced so it was very tame and chaste, but it was still the most amazing thing that either girl had ever experienced. _

_It was over quicker then it started and Brooke rested her forehead against Haley's, silently prayer that she hadn't just ruined the most important thing in her life. Her eyes quickly traveled over to the digital alarm clock that was sitting beside the cupcake and she smiled when she saw the time; 11:59._

_"Happy Birthday, baby."_

"And then we watched Sixteen Candles for the millionth time and pigged out on popcorn and chocolate until it was five in the morning and we passed out on the couch," Brooke finished with a smirk, finding it adorable that even after all these years, Haley still blushed at that story. Not that they talked about it a lot, or at all.

"Good times," Haley replied, not sure what Brooke wanted her to say to their little trip down memory lane. She couldn't believe that Brooke had just brought that up as if it were nothing. Well, maybe it was nothing to Brooke, but it was everything to Haley and she couldn't stand it if Brooke just dismissed it like that.

"They were," Brooke agreed. She brought her free hand up to massage Haley's cheek. She rubbed small circles on her soft skin and watched as Haley fought to keep her eyes open. "That was my first kiss. Ever. And it means everything to me that it was with you because you mean everything to me." She smiled at the look on Haley's face. She was definitely surprised. "That night was really special to me, and I don't know… I was just thinking about it."

"Really?" Haley squeaked out, still in shock over what she just heard. Brooke giggled and nodded her head.

"Yeppers." She reached forward, kissing her lightly on the tip of the nose before jumping up, pulling Haley with her and moving towards the door. "Come on, I've gotta pee." Haley laughed despite herself and shook her head, following after her best friend and trying her best to get that memory out of her head.

**……….FYITM……….**

I know that wasn't my best, but I really wanted to get you guys an update. Sorry if you don't like it, I'm hoping my next chapter will be better. Please, tell me what you think.


	8. So Close, Yet So Far

_Author's Note:_ Sorry that it's been so long, but I've been really busy with other things. I know that I say that all the time, but it's really the truth, I promise. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait, but I can't promise that considering I have no idea what I'm going to write for this chapter, I just hope that it comes out good and TPTB are on my side today. Please tell me what you think because it really does help get me into gear and update quicker, even if it doesn't always seem like it.

**……….FYITM……….**

"Do you think we can go out like this?" Brooke asked Haley as they sat on the couch in the living room. It had been quite an interesting experience, showering and going to the bathroom, but the girls had managed to do it without completely embarrassing themselves.

"I don't know," Haley mumbled, completely engrossed in the movie. Brooke watched her for a moment, waiting for her to give her full attention. Finally, after a moment, Haley blinked a few times and looked over at the other brunette. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you thought we could go out like this," Brooke answered, holding up their hands to show that she meant the handcuffs. Haley shrugged and immediately went back to watching the screen. "What is so good about this movie that you can't even pay attention to your bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

"Hot people," Haley answered, making sure that she didn't say guy or girl, considering at the moment, she was kind of attracted to both. That was last thing she wanted Brooke to know. Well, second last, actually. Wanting to move on before Brooke could question her, she looked at Brooke again. "I thought you wanted to see this movie more than anything? Why aren't you so worried about leaving?"

"I um," Brooke stuttered, trying to think of an answer. "I've already seen it. Yeah, we watched it in English class the other day." Even though Haley could clearly tell that she was lying, she shrugged and left it alone. Brooke sighed in relief when Haley didn't call her on it. Truth was, she had been way too busy staring at Haley to pay any attention to the movie. The girl sitting beside her was much more entertaining anyway.

"Then why are we watching it?" Haley asked. She wasn't really that into the movie, at least not as much as she appeared to be. Really, she was just hoping that if she paid such close attention to what was going on in there, she wouldn't have to think about the beautiful cheerleader sitting a few inches away of the kiss she had shared with that same girl only two years ago.

"Cause you wanted to?" Brooke guessed, not knowing the answer either. Haley waited a moment, trying to find an answer herself before reaching forward and grabbing the remote, flicking the movie off. "Okay, so to the mall?"

"You do remember that we're handcuffed together right?" Brooke nodded her head, a silly grin plastered on her face. "Don't you think we might look a little stupid walking around in public attached together?"

"We're both much too hot to look stupid doing anything," Brooke reasoned with her. Haley looked at her doubtfully; she would never believe anyone that told her that she was hot, and Brooke knew that too. "I'm sure they'll be more people there handcuffed together, our whole class had to do it."

"Are you gonna complain until I agree?" Brooke grinned at her, Haley knew her better than anyone did. She nodded her head emphatically. Haley sighed and slumped her shoulders. She didn't want to go, she hated going to the mall, but if Brooke asked her to, there really wasn't a choice. After all, she would pretty much do anything for Brooke.

"Oh, most definitely," Brooke assured her. "Loudly and constantly." Haley rolled her eyes and started to stand up. "You know, Huggie, I love that you know me so well."

"What can I say, it's a gift," Haley mumbled, pulling Brooke off the couch and moving them back to her bedroom so she could grab some money and Brooke could get her car keys. Oh crap. "Bunny?" she asked, stopping in the middle of the hall suddenly, causing Brooke to crash into her. After regaining her composure, Brooke looked at her.

"What?"

"How are you supposed to drive when we're stuck together?"

"Ah, like I normally do," Brooke answered, trying to figure out why Haley was being so overdramatic about everything. "You'll just have to hold out your arm or something."

"That can't be too safe," Haley pointed out, following Brooke into her room. They searched around for the things that they needed. Brooke was looking through her purse for her keys ad Haley searched her dresser for her money. When she spotted the money, she caught sight of the shiny silver piece of metal that she had used no more than day ago. Thanking God that Brooke was too busy to notice her, she quickly shoved it off the dresser, causing it to get lost between the wood and the wall.

"Ready?" Brooke asked, standing up straight, keys dangling in her hands. Haley quickly turned around, wanting to make sure that Brooke hadn't seen what she had just done.

"Yeppers." Brooke noticed that Haley looked weird, almost scared. She stepped forward, bringing herself closer to her best friend.

"You okay, Huggie?" Haley nodded, holding up the money she had found and smiled at Brooke, pushing her dark thoughts to the back of her head. "Okay, let's go then." The two of them made their way through the house and out the front door to Brooke's silver bug that was waiting in the driveway. After much difficulty trying to figure out how they were going to get into it, they finally got inside.

"Where's Eric?" Brooked asked as they pulled out of the driveway. She had noticed before that Haley's brother hadn't come home last night and she was starting to wonder if that was a regular thing or not.

"Who knows," Haley answered, looking out the window as they drove away from her house. "With Random Girl Number 12, probably." Brooke glanced at her friend, sensing the bitterness in her voice. She didn't think it was because she was actually missing her brother, they both knew what an ass he was, Brooke assumed it was because she hated being left alone all the time.

"Is he ever home?" Brooke asked, turning the car onto Main Street. They were probably about five minutes away from the mall, which meant they had time to talk about this. Haley shrugged, but didn't say anything. Brooke shook her arm, causing Haley's arm to jerk, successfully getting her to look at her. "Huggie?"

"Not really," she answered in a voice that made her sound like she didn't care, even though both knew that she did. "If he does come home, it's while I'm at school, and that's usually just to change his clothes or grab some money. Of course, he doesn't forget to make some mess and leave some dishes for me to wash."

"That sucks," Brooke admitted, feeling bad that she didn't know how lonely Haley had been lately. "You know that you can always come over to my house and stay over, right? Even if it's two in the morning?" Haley nodded.

"I know, Bunny."

"Have you heard from Taylor lately?" Taylor was the only one of Haley's siblings that they actually liked; she was the only one that was nice to them. She was actually two years younger than Eric, but he was too lazy to go to college so he still lived at home at the age of 22.

"She called the other day, but I didn't get to the phone in time," Haley answered, a small smile coming to face when she thought about her big sister. "She left a message, nothing too important."

"You didn't call her back?" Haley shrugged and shook her head. She had thought about it, but she didn't know what she would have said to her. 'Hey, it's the sister you left with her abusive brother. You know, the one that likes to cut herself?' That probably wouldn't have gone over too well.

"I couldn't remember the number for her dorm," she lied. Brooke was going to call her on that obvious lie, but thought better of it and decided to just keep her mouth shut for a change. The rest of the car ride was made in silence, both girls lost in their own thoughts. Finally, they reached the mall and Brooke pulled into the first spot she could find.

"Let's go out your door this time." Haley nodded and slowly got out, making sure to keep close enough while Brooke moved herself over the arm rests and out the passenger side door. "I'm beginning to think that we probably should have just walked."

"I told you," Haley teased as they walked towards the entrance of the mall. The place was pretty busy for a Saturday afternoon, and they received more than a few strange looks from people passing by. While Haley tried to ignore them, Brooke would smile brightly at the people, letting them know that she didn't care what they thought of her. Haley wished more than anything that she could have that ability. "People are looking at us like we're circus freaks."

"Who cares?" Brooke quickly answered her in an encouraging voice. Haley thought about telling her that she cared, but figured there was no point in that. "That's the spirit, bestest friend. What do you say we head over to the record store first? See if they have anything new?"

"Sure." They searched around there for about twenty minutes. Haley grabbed a new CD and Brooke picked out a couple DVDs for them to watch later that night since they had seen all of the ones that Haley already had. Once they were finished in there, they headed over to Brooke's favorite store in the whole world so she could find a new outfit.

"I won't be long," she told Haley when she saw the pout on her lips. "I promise." And hour and a half, five trips to the changing room, three tank tops, two pairs of jeans and a new thong later, they were ready for lunch.

"What do you want?" Haley asked as they stood in the entrance to the food court, looking at all their different choices. Brooke surveyed the different restaurants, trying to choose. Haley watched her in surprised, finding it strange that Brooke hadn't chosen Subway yet. "Color me shocked."

"What?" Brooke asked, tearing her eyes of the glowing signs to look at her best friend.

"I can't believe you just passed over Subway as if it were nothing," Haley explained, pointing towards the counter they usually went to. "Last time I checked, you were completely infatuated with the server there. And he's working today too."

"I like someone else now, remember?" Brooke reminded her. She had been trying all morning not to think about how adorable Haley looked whenever she did something, but it was starting to prove more difficult than she thought it would be. Haley's face fell for a moment, but she quickly turned it into a smile before Brooke noticed.

"Oh right, the mystery lover," Haley teased, ignoring the slight pain it caused to say those words. She knew that Brooke wasn't exactly the most chaste person in the world, it wasn't like she was saving herself for her, but Haley had to admit that deep down inside, a part of her always thought that they'd end up together. Now, with Brooke actually having feelings for someone, that dream was pretty much shoot to hell. This was the first time that Brooke had ever actually been 'in love' with someone. "So, what will it be?"

"How about some good old Mickey D's?" Haley suggested, nodding her head towards the restaurant. "Can't go wrong there, right?"

"You certainly can't." They made their way over there and ordered their food then brought it back over to the only empty table they could find in the crowded place. Once they were both well into their meals, Brooke thought she'd start up a conversation. "So, how do you think this little project is going? Are we getting to know each other better?"

"I think we are," Haley answered, subconsciously, dropping her right arm under the table and out of Brooke's view. "For instance, I didn't know that you liked mustard on your hamburger." Brooke eyed her with a raised eyebrow and Haley broke out into a smile. "Okay, I already knew that."

"Nice," Brooke teased. Haley playfully glared at her.

"Okay, missy," Haley started. "What did you learn?"

"I learned that I have the most adorable best friend on the face of the planet," she answered honestly, not caring what that might sound like. Over the past twenty-four hours she had thought about how adorable Haley looked more times than she had thought it in her entire life.

"Aw, aren't you sweet," was the only thing that Haley's brain would let her say. Anything else that she wanted to say, got lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth.

"I try," Brooke answered as if it were nothing. She was glad that she could give Haley a compliment and not have her question it. That was probably the firs time that has happened in almost forever. For as long as she could remember, every time she tried to say something nice to her, Haley were brush it off like she didn't believe it.

Haley stared at the smile on Brooke's face and she felt terrible that she was lying to her best friend, someone who had always been completely honest with her. More than anything, Haley wanted to be happy with herself, she wanted to get better and stop hurting herself. She knew she couldn't do that if she didn't ask Brooke for help. As much as it might kill her to admit her weakness to her best friend, she knew that if she didn't tell her, it would kill her all the same.

"Bunny," Haley suddenly began, her voice cracking as she said her nickname. Brooke immediately stopped smiling at the tone in her voice and put her burger down, giving Haley her full attention. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Hales?" Haley searched Brooke's eyes, hoping to find some kind of understanding that told her that Brooke would be there for her no matter what. Haley opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from behind her.

"Isn't this cute?" came Nathan's voice. Haley let out a sigh, frustrated that they had been interrupted. That was her chance, and now it was gone. There was no way that she'd be able to find the strength to tell her again.

"Yeah, is this like some kind of charity event, or something?" Tim questioned from his position at Nathan's side. They had been handcuffed together since yesterday and things weren't going as well as it was with the other pair of best friends. "Hey, Nate, it's like adopt a freak or something, right?"

"What the hell do you want, Dim?" Brooke asked in an annoyed tone. Not only was she pissed that they had interrupted their conversation, but now they were making fun of Haley.

"Whoa, calm down," Nathan laughed, pulled Tim along as they started to continue walking passed. "We're just on our way for my shift at Hot & Twisted. Just thought that we'd stop and say hello."

"Isn't that sweet," Brooke shot back sarcastically. "Bye now." Nathan gave her a tight smile while Tim looked at her love struck. She gave him a disgusted look as Nathan finally pulled him away. "Sorry about that. What were you going to say?"

"Huh?" Haley asked, taking her gaze off the retreating backs of two of the biggest dickheads in their school. She realized that Brooke was waiting for her to continue with what she was saying.

"You were about to tell me something," Brooke explained. "I could tell that it was serious. What's up?" Haley stared at her blankly for a moment, silently panicking, not knowing what to do. The moment had passed; there was no way she could do it now, at least not there.

"Nothing," she answered, ignoring the look Brooke was sending her. "It's nothing." She quickly started to stand up, gathering the garbage from her tray to throw out. Brooke watched her, forced to get up when Haley moved too far away.

"Haley…"

"Just drop it, Brooke," Haley instructed her in a stern yet begging tone. Brooke thought about pushing it further, but finally nodded, throwing her own garbage away. "Thank you."

"Come on, Huggie," she began, tugging on her arm. "Let's go home." Haley nodded and they started to walk towards the doors. Brooke keep sending Haley quick glancing, trying to find out what Haley was going to tell her. Something was definitely up with her best friend and whether Haley wanted her to or not, she was sure as hell going to find out what it was.

**……….FYITM……….**

That's all for now. I know that there wasn't anything good in that chapter and it completely sucked, but that's all I could think of at the moment. Trust me, I'm going to think of something great for this story and I'll come back and update again when I do. Until the, just tell me what you thought about this horrible chapter. Thanks.


	9. And All Is Revealed

_Author's Note:_ Hey all. Long time no see, eh? Yes, is it that obvious that I'm Canadian? Anyway, sorry it took so long to update this chapter, but I've been really busy, and haven't really felt any push to update this story at all. Finally, I just sat my ass down and decided to do it. I hope that it turns out okay, for your sake and for mine. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.

**……….FYITM……….**

"Can you believe that we only have one more day like this?" Brooke asked as she and Haley made their way into her room to change. They had spent the rest of the previous day lounging around the house, deciding that it wasn't the bed idea to go anywhere outside the house again.

"Are you kidding?" Haley asked, throwing Brooke one of her spare bathing suits. Actually, she was pretty sure that was Brooke's from last year, when they first got the hot tub put in the backyard. "This has been like the longest weekend of my life."

"But it was fun still, right?" Brooke asked, catching the suit and smiling when she noticed that it was her's. "I mean, I know that we've been best friends since forever, and that hasn't changed at all since we got to high school, but I just felt like we've started to drift apart lately, and that's the last thing I want to happen."

"Don't be silly," Haley assured her, making sure that she didn't turn around to sneak a peek at the changing girl behind her. She continued to search through her drawer, looking for her other suit, but she couldn't fine it. She frowned when the only one she could find was Taylor's red bikini. "We're just as close as we've always been."

"You promise?" Brooke asked, glancing quickly at Haley before going back to trying to get her suit on. She hated the thought of drifting away from Haley; she just couldn't imagine not having Haley in her life. "Cause I kinda thought that I haven't really been around that often…Haley?"

"Huh?" Haley snapped out of her thoughts, tearing her eyes away from the strings of material she was going to have to wear and looked at Brooke. She felt her heart catch in her throat slightly when she spotted her in her short shorts and bikini top, not fully dressed yet.

"You okay?" Brooke asked, more than a little concerned about her. She had been noticing that Haley had been zoning out quite a lot this past weekend. "You were gone there for a moment."

"Oh, I'm good," Haley reassured her. She suddenly had the courage to wear that damn bikini. She wanted to try to make Brooke have the same reaction to her that she had just had. Even though she knew that it probably wasn't possible, she could at least try. "I promise, we're good."

"Good," Brooke nodded, giving the biggest smile she could. "Cause I don't think I could handle it if you weren't in my life." Haley felt her heart sink at her words, feeling just terrible that she was lying to the best friend she could ever hope to have.

"Yeah," Haley whispered, her voice cracking a bit. She blinked rapid in an attempt to stop the tears. "Me too." She turned around and started taking off her shirt, knowing that Brooke would turn around as well. Before long, both girls were changed and ready to go to the hot tub.

"You ready?" Brooke asked without turning around. She was more than tempted, just the thought of Haley being completely naked no more than a foot away from her was driving her crazy, but she somehow found it in herself to stay in control. She could feel Haley's shirt around her wrist so she figured she was dressed, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"Yep," Haley answered, both nervous and excited about being clad only in the small bikini in front of Brooke. She knew that she didn't have a terrible body, but she thought that compared to Brooke's she would look ridiculous. "Let's head out." She didn't give Brooke a chance to turn around before quickly moving forward and pulling her best friend with her.

"Whoa, whoa," Brooke called out, finally finding her voice once they were outside on the back deck. The house wasn't that big, nor was the backyard, but for some reason they had a huge ass hot tub. They came to a halt just in front of the water and Brooke finally got to stare at Haley. "Holy mother of God, Huggie!"

"What?"

"Where the hell have you been hiding that fine ass body?" Brooke didn't care what she sounded like, Haley just looked too damn yummy not to say anything. All of a sudden, she wasn't so sure about her brilliant idea of going in the hot tub. On one hand, she was certainly over the moon happy at being able to stare at the hotness that was her best friend, but on the other hand, she didn't know if she'd be able to control herself.

"Funny, Bunny," Haley replied, ignoring the fact that the words rhymed, but she caught the momentary smirk on Brooke lips. She could tell that she was blushing, but she didn't let that ruin how amazing she felt inside at Brooke's words. It was like everything was gone and for a split second, it was all perfect.

"I swear to you," Brooke began, as they slowly lowered themselves in the water, careful that they didn't get their shirts, which were dangling on the chain that connected the two cuffs together, wet. They had discovered on Saturday morning that they weren't able to take their shirts off so they were stuck wearing the same thing all weekend. "I have never seen someone look that fine in a bikini."

"Please, have you seen you in a bikini?" Haley asked, but grimaced when she realized how that must sound. Brooke rolled her eyes, already used to the fact that Haley was unable to take a compliment, waved her off.

"Whatever," Brooke sighed, repositioning herself in her seat, so her back wasn't directly in front of the jet. She suddenly felt all her worries start to drain away. "You're gorgeous, admit it." Haley blushed at her words, but didn't say anything, deciding instead to just stare at Brooke.

"Whatever you say, Brookie," Haley finally sighed, getting comfortable in her own spot. She always liked hot tubs, but she hardly ever went into her's because she hated being in a bathing suit, but they didn't have anything else to do, and Brooke had begged her to go in, so se agreed.

"I've been waiting my entire life for you to say those beautiful words to me."

"You know it's just a saying, right?" Haley asked, eyeing her best friend to make sure that she wasn't being serious. "You don't really get whatever you say you want."

"I'm currently relaxing in a hot tub, am I not?" Brooke asked, her eyes closed and a wide smile on her face. She turned her head towards where she knew Haley was sitting, but didn't open her eyes. "Face it, Huggie, I've got you wrapped around my finger, and I always have."

"That's just because you're so cute," Haley answered without thinking about it. Her eyes widened as she silently cursed herself for saying that. Did she just blow everything? But Brooke calls her cute all the time. It's a normal best friend thing, wasn't it? It certainly didn't feel normal.

"You're one to talk," Brooke replied as if she didn't find the comment weird at all. Even though she was doing a little happy dance inside, she wouldn't let Haley see that. Haley could see the smirk threatening to break through on Brooke's lips, but didn't comment on it. She decided that she would use this time for some much needed relaxation. They have pretty much been talking non-stop all weekend; she didn't think it would hurt to sit in silence for a little bit.

Brooke seemed to have the same idea, as she wiggled her hips a little to get in the most comfortable position possible, before slipping her sunglasses over her eyes and closing them. She could still hear the hum of the hot tub, signaling that it was still on and she could definitely feel Haley's presence beside her, both from the sound of her breathing and the fact that their arms were both spread out over the edge to keep their shirts from getting soaked.

Neither of them planned on staying outside for long, not wanting to get burnt or anything, but their half an hour-long soak quickly turned into a little bit more when both girls ended up falling asleep.

About an hour and a half later, Brooke began to stir away, cursing herself for waking up at the best part of her dream. She and Haley were just about to start getting intimate when she slipped back into the land of the living. After quickly trying to go back to her dream, and failing miserably, Brooke let out a puff of air in frustration and decided to go with her next choice; Haley watching.

She shifted her eyes to look at her best friend, keeping her glasses on and not tilting her encase the other girl was awake too. She was surprised to find that Haley was still sleeping and was happy to know that she could stare without worrying about getting caught.

"Yummy," she mumbled under her breath as her eyes dragged over Haley's body. She always knew that Haley was one hot mama, but she had no idea that she had been hiding that fine body. Everything about her made Brooke weak in the knees. Before she had been adorable and beautiful, now she was both of those things plus hot and damn sexy.

Brooke smiled softly at how relaxed and cute Haley looked, stretched out over the edge, her head resting comfortably on the edge as well. Brooke racked her eyes off of Haley's face to look at the rest of her. She felt guilty to be checking her out like that while she was unaware of the attention, but Haley was just looking too fine not to look at.

There wasn't part on Haley's body that didn't make Brooke hot. Her neck was sexy, her shoulder where nicely tanned, her arms toned and her hands tiny, a perfect fit with her own. As Brooke's eyes lingered on Haley's hands, something caught her eye. Suddenly having a terrible feeling, Brooke pushed herself up from her lounging position and took off her sunglasses to get a better look.

"What the…" she whispered under her breath, as she squinted to get a better look at Haley's lower arm. She gently slid over, careful not to hit Haley's attached arm and wake her. She felt all the food that she had eaten all weekend suddenly try to make a comeback. Were those what she thought they were?

"Haley?" Brooke asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She could taste the bile starting to rise in the back of her throat at the very thought. When the other girl didn't respond, Brooke moved closer and tried again. "Haley?" Nothing. "Haley!" she yelled, shaking the girl awake. Haley jolted awake, frantically looking to see what the sudden problem was.

"What?" she asked frantically. "What? What?" She was surprised to find Brooke sitting so close to her, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Especially after that dream she just had. The look on Brooke's face, however, didn't look very promising. Haley subconsciously sat up straighter. "What's going on?"

"What the hell is this?" Brooke asked, getting straight to the point and reaching across Haley to grab a hold of her free arm. She held it up to examine the old scars and what seemed to be a fairly fresh cut. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"It's none of your business," Haley snapped, trying to break her arm free from Brooke's grip. She couldn't believe that she had been so stupid as to fall asleep. She had been worried about this when Brooke suggested they got in, but she figured that as long as she was careful to hide the inside of her arm, then she'd be okay.

"None of my business?" Brooke asked incredulously, her voice raising a few decimals. "God damn it, Haley. You're my best friend, you mean everything to me. I sure as hell think that it's my business when you start to cut yourself."

"Do you want to keep it down?" Haley hissed, glancing around her backyard to make sure that none of her neighbours heard what Brooke was yelling. It was horrible enough that Brooke knew about this now; she didn't want the whole freaking town to know her business.

"Don't tell me to be quiet," Brooke shot back, her voice still full of anger. She wasn't sure who she was angrier at; Haley for doing this or herself for not noticing. It didn't really matter right now, all that did matter, was getting answers from Haley. "This is serious, Haley."

"Thank you, tips," Haley whispered under her breath; starting to get scared of the way Brooke was acting. This was exactly why she didn't want to tell her in the first place. She knew that Brooke was going to act like this.

"I can't believe that you would…" Brooke started to berate her, but stopped when she saw the terrified look on Haley's face. Suddenly all of the anger in Brooke's body was washed away and replaced with sadness, guilt and fear. She moved closer to Haley, brushing some loose hair out of her face. "Huggie Bear, why would you do that to yourself?"

"I don't know," Haley sighed, both at her answer and at the tears that started to roll down her cheeks. Brooke wasted no time whipping them away. She sniffled and risked a glance in Brooke's direction. "I was just so sick of myself, you know? I was all alone, and I couldn't take it. The first time I did it was right after Taylor left, and you got caption."

"That was over a year ago," Brooke realized, the shock easily read in her voice. Haley bit her lip, more tears falling, and nodded her head mutely. She didn't notice that Brooke had let her arm go until she felt the hot water around it. Her newest cut stung a little, but not in a bad way. "Huggie…"

"You and Tay have been the only good people in my life," Haley tried to explain even though she knew that Brooke could never understand the way she was feeling. Brooke was always surrounded by people, always with a hot guy on her arm. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what it felt like to be in her position. "Now with her gone, and you always with your other friends…I-I just get so depressed when I'm left alone with my thoughts. Eric's not much help either."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about this?" Brooke asked, completely blown away by her lack of stupidity. How could she not see that Haley was drowning? She was her best friend for Christ's sake and she hadn't been able to see something this big.

"So you could react the way you just reacted?" Haley asked rhetorically. She shook her head and wrapped her injured arm around her waist. "I was scared to death, Bunny."

"Then you should have asked for help," Brooke continued as if it were the easy thing in the world. Yes, she could admit that she had no idea what Haley was going through, the thought of hurting herself like that completely baffled Brooke's mind, but she wanted more than anything to understand it and help Haley get better. "You know that all you have to do is call and I'll be there in a second."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Haley argued, with another shake of her head. "I can't help the way I feel when I get that way. When I'm sitting in my room all alone on a Friday night while you're off at a party, something in me just breaks and I can't feel anything. I don't know what made me start in the first place, I just walked into the bathroom and there it was."

"When was the last time you did it?" Brooke's voice was barely above a whisper and she wouldn't have been surprised if Haley hadn't heard a word she had just said. She was still desperately trying to wrap her head around it. Haley gulped at the questioned and looked away.

"Four days ago," Haley answered, hoping that Brooke didn't make the connection to what had happened that day. Unfortunately, Haley didn't seem to be having much luck that day because she could practically see the wheels turning in Brooke's head.

"Wednesday?" Brooke questioned, wanting to make sure that she had the date right. Haley's head seemed to have a mind of it's own as it nodded all by itself. "I had a date with Jay that night."

"It was my birthday, Bunny," Haley choked out, all the pain for that night coming back to her. She had waited until 2 in morning for Brooke to come by, she had expected her to come with the chocolate cupcake at midnight, but she never did. They saw each other at school the next day, and Brooke had no idea, just started to tell her all about her date. Haley didn't say anything. "Wednesday was my birthday."

"What?" Brooke asked. She wasn't even sure if any sound had come out of her mouth, she was in so much shock. She frantically racked her brain for today's date. Her eyes widened as she realized what day it was. "Oh my God. Oh God, Huggie. I can't believe that I … I'm so sorry. I'm so unbelievably sorry."

"Forget it," Haley told her. She hated that she had made Brooke feel so bad. That was why she hadn't called her on it before; she hated to make Brooke guilty. If anything, it was her fault for not reminding Brooke about it earlier. At least that's what she liked to tell herself. "It's my fault for not reminding you."

"You shouldn't have to remind me," Brooke quickly replied, her voice a mixture of guilt and pleading. She just could not believe that she had forgotten about Haley's birthday. Never in fifteen years has she done that. "You're my best friend in the whole world and I completely ditched you on your birthday. I'm a horrible, horrible person. I deserve to be killed."

"Brooke, stop," Haley begged, seeing all the self-hatred she was causing. She knew better than anyone what it felt like to hate yourself and she didn't wish that on her worst enemy, let alone Brooke. "You're not a horrible person. You're the best friend that anyone could ever ask for."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Brooke questioned, still trying to figure out how she could have possibly been that idiotic and insensitive. Haley shrugged and looked down at her hands in the water. Brooke already knew that answer; because Haley would never be selfish like that. "We were talking about your birthday the other morning, I can't believe that it didn't even click."

"It's okay…"

"No, it's not," Brooke insisted, her voice hard. "I'm going to make this up to you, Huggie Bear, I promise. As soon as I'm free, I'm going to get you the greatest gift ever and then I'm going to stay here with you for the rest of our lives."

"You can't do that," Haley tried to reason with her. As much as she loved that idea of never having to share Brooke with anyone, she could never ask Brooke to just give up her life like that because she had a problem. "You have a life to live."

"It wouldn't be worth it if you were right beside me," Brooke told her. Both girls knew they were back to the original topic at hand. And here Haley thought she had done a pretty good job at distracting herself. Brooke brought her hand up to wipe the last remaining tear off Haley's face, letting her hand linger on her cheek afterwards. "We're going to get through this, baby. I'm going to help you get through this."

"How can you?" Haley knew the answer to that question. The only thing that could get her to feel better would be for Taylor to come home or for Brooke to say the words she had been dreaming about since her fourteenth birthday.

Brooke watched the questions dance around in Haley's eyes, and she fought silently with herself about what to say. She knew that she could tell her about her feelings that might be just what Haley needs to hear; that she's wanted. Though, it could also freak her out and scare her into thinking that if she doesn't return those feelings that their friendship is over. Brooke took a deep, shaky breath and looked into Haley's eyes.

"So that was your deepest secret, huh?" Brooke began. If the tone in her voice wasn't so grave and she didn't still have tears on her cheeks, then Haley would think that she was talking about something completely different. "Well, remember what I told you on Friday about mine?" Haley nodded, silently. "What did I say."

"That you-you were in-in love," Haley choked out, the pain of saying those words right now, in this situation, when all she needed to hear was those same words, getting to her.

"Yeah," Brooke answered, a small smile gracing her lips. "I said that it was the first time I'd ever felt that way. But I've been thinking about it all weekend, and I don't think it's a first for me. I think I've been feeling this way for a long time now, I've just been hiding it from myself." Brooke laughed lightly as the tears started to fall again, this time they were of happiness and a little bit of fear.

"Haley, I think I've been in love with you since I was four."

Haley's eyes widened and she stare in shock at her best friend. There was no way that she could have just heard her right. Those were the words Haley had been longing to hear, the magic words that she thought could heal her heart. She searched Brooke's eyes, looking for any traces of a lie or pity, but she could only find love. A huge smile broke out on her face and she let a shocked laugh.

"Really?"

"Really, really," Brooke assured her, taking her smile as a good sign. She was incredible proud of herself for saying the words, she didn't think she'd be able to. "I know that you're going through an incredibly hard time right now, and I've been a terrible best friend, but I promise to fix that. I'm going to be here with you every step of the way." Haley nodded in thanks, still not able to find any words.

"I know that everything is a little hard to take in all at once," Brooke told her, wanting her to know that there was absolutely no pressure at all to do or say anything about her confession. "And I don't expect anything in return. I just wanted you to know how I felt. I wanted you to know that you're never alone. Not ever."

"I know," Haley whispered, biting her lip to stop the tears. She had to say it. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't. "I'm in love with you too."

"It's about damn time," came an all too familiar voice from the doorway. Haley and Brooke pulled away from each other to see someone who was at the door. Just when Haley thought her life couldn't get any better.

"Taylor," she whispered.

………**.FYITM……….**

I hope you don't feel like that chapter was rushed or anything, maybe too much, but I really want to wrap this up so I can focus on my other upcoming stories. Including my Baley ones, I was thinking about writing a Paley one, cause I love them too. Don't worry, Brookie will have a co-starring role in it.

Please check out my other fic, Who Would Have Thought, cause I updated it a little while ago, but I think most people missed it or just missed reviewing when the site was on read only. So please be sure to do that and review.

Also, I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter. Thanks. Later.


	10. Welcome Home, Big Sister

_Author's Note:_ Gasp! An update from me? On this story? Amazing, I know. Sorry it took me so long, but I've lost pretty much all interest in this story, but I refuse to leave it unfinished, so I'm going to try to wrap it up in a couple of chapters. So, here's the first chapter in forever. Please review.

**Warning:** As you know, this story deals with cutting and depression. I don't have much expreience with either, so if anything is off in this chapter, or in the last chapter, I'm sorry. I'm just using the limited knowledge that I have.

**...FYITM...**

"Perfect," Brooke mumbled when she followed Haley's eyes towards the voice and saw who was standing in the doorway. Don't get her wrong, she loved Taylor just as much as the next person, and she knew that Taylor being home would make Haley extremely happy, but her timing totally sucked. "Just great."

"Well, Haley-bub," Taylor said with a bright smile. "Do I get a hug and a kiss or are you gonna sit there and stare at me all day?" Haley let out a squeal, realizing that she had wasted all that time staring at her sister and quickly jumped out of the hot tub, pulling a reluctant Brooke with her. Not wasting any time, she clearly ran over to her sister. Taylor laughed at the display. "Hey, baby.

"Tay!" Haley cheered, the happiest smile imaginable on her lips. Taylor didn't care that she was soaking wet, she enveloped Haley in a tight hug, squeezing her with all of her might, a matching smile on her face. As much as Brooke hated being interrupted when she had, she couldn't help the heartwarming feeling swell up in heart as she watched the sweet reunion of sisters.

"What's up, Tay?" she asked casually, as if she had no relationship with the older blonde. Taylor laughed at her attitude and pulled Brooke into the hug as well. After a moment, they all pulled apart and Taylor looked at them as if she just realized what they were wearing.

"Hay," she asked, a bit of confusion appearing in her voice as she looked at her baby sister. "Are you wearing my bikini?"

"Oh," Haley blushed, glancing down at her body self-consciously. Suddenly, she felt really naked in front of her best friend and big sister. "Yeah, sorry."

"That's okay," Taylor laughed, rolling her eyes at how embarrassed Haley was at the mention of her attire. Some things never changed, and Taylor was kind of happy about that. She didn't want to have missed Haley coming into her own. "You look damn hot, little sister. When did you get a body?"

"I said the same thing," Brooke laughed, finding it incredibly endearing that Haley was still blushing at the attention. She bumped her hip with Haley's, trying to get the other girl's attention. "See, I told you that you looked sexy."

"No, no," Taylor quickly denied, sending a glare in Brooke's direction. "My baby sister does not look sexy, especially not to the likes of you."

"Hey!" Brooke protested. She knew that Taylor was just being a pain in the ass as always, but she was couldn't let the comment go without saying anything. "The likes of me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you get around," Taylor answered with a smirk, already in the swing of things again. She had forgotten how much she missed being home. She knew that she had missed Haley dearly, but she didn't realize how much she had missed her sister's best friend, or teasing her anyway.

"Like you're the Virgin Mary," Brooke shot back. As sick as it made her, she had to admit that she had missed arguing with Taylor. She loved having a big sister around, even if it wasn't her own, she would always feel like Taylor was her sister.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Taylor asked, pretending to be outraged at the insinuation that Brooke had just made.

"Hello, earth to Taylor," Brooke replied. "I'm you! You're me! We're the same!"

"We are not…" Taylor started to protest, not liking the idea of Brooke, who was practically her little sister as well, being like her. She was the first to admit that her behavior wasn't exactly that of a role model's. Her face fell and her eyes widen. "We are!"

"I've been saying that for years," Haley mumbled, finding the whole exchange highly amusing. The relationship she had with her big sister wasn't normal, they never fought and were always loving with each other and Haley liked to think that Brooke had taken over her role of the annoying little sister. "But nobody ever listens to me."

"Aw, is the baby feeling unwanted?" Taylor teased, pulling Haley's body against her again and kissing her gently on her temple, ruffling her hair a little bit in a big sisterly manner for good measure. Brooke knew that she meant it in a joking way, but it killed her to know just how true Taylor's question was.

"Not at the moment," Haley answered, making sure to keep her voice somewhat light so Taylor doesn't know just how close her comment hit close to home. Haley smiled up at Taylor with a happy grin before looking over at Brooke, her smile faltering a little bit when she sees the down look on her face.

"So," Taylor drew out, noticing the look that Brooke and Haley were sharing. She didn't know what it was about, but she would find out soon enough. She could tell that she had interrupted something pretty serious before in the hot tub, and more than just the revelation of their true feelings. "What's with the handcuffs? Are you guys all into S and M, now or what? Did I rub off on you guys that much?"

"It's for school," Haley quickly answered, not wanting to hear what Brooke's answer to that question was going to be. She could just imagine what it would be, especially after what they had just relieved their feelings. Brooke, like Taylor, always had this incredible urge to make situations a lot worse and more uncomfortable than was needed. "Some stupid project to get to know each other."

"Get to know each other?" Taylor repeated with a laugh, looking at the two younger girls in amusement. "You two have been literally attached at the hip for fifteen years, how much closer does your teacher want you to get? I mean, what could there possibly be to learn about each other after all these years?"

The laughter that was coming out of Taylor's mouth was like a knife through Brooke's heart. The funny thing was, she had asked herself that exact same question when Miss Lake had given them this assignment. Brooke thought she knew everything there was to know about Haley, and if this whole weekend had taught her anything, it was that she couldn't have been more wrong.

For her entire life, Haley Elise James had been her best friend in the whole world. There had never, ever been any question about it, not once had she ever had two best friends, it was always her and Haley. They had shared every experience together, from their first period, to their first dance, to their first day of high school and hell, they even had their first kiss together.

And then this happened. All because of one stupid project that Miss Lake decided to give because she didn't have anymore lesson plans. Everything that she thought she knew turns out to be completely wrong. All her life, Haley and their friendship had been the one constant thing, and know she didn't even know what she could believe anymore.

Sure, she knew that Haley wasn't always the happiest person in the world. Her family was a big pile of shit pretty much; her parents didn't give a damn about her, her brother was a major asshole and the one good person in her family hadn't been from in almost a year.

Yeah, Brooke knew all too well that Haley could get depressed sometimes, but she never could have imagined her best friend doing this to herself, and she certainly never thought that she would be one of the reasons that caused her problem. Now that she thought about it though, she really had been a horrible best friend lately and the worst part was, at the time, she knew that she should be with Haley, but she never did anything about it, she just brushed it off and told herself that Haley had other things to do.

Of course Haley didn't have other things to do. They had been so into each other and their exclusive friendship, they had almost isolated themselves from the rest of their grade. At least until high school when Brooke discovered boys, and cheerleading and the urge to be popular. She had never ditched Haley, never would, but she sorta left her hanging on more nights than she'd like to admit.

She never intentionally meant to do that to Haley, she would never want to hurt her best friend like that, but it didn't make matters any better. She should have invited Haley to parties, even though she knew the brunette would never come in a million years, it would have been nice to let her know that Brooke wanted her there.

And Brooke had wanted her there. Every party that she had gone to for the last three years, Brooke had wished that Haley was there with her, having a drink with her and making fun of all the other cheerleaders that were whoring themselves around the room and throwing themselves at any guy that was willing to take them.

Brooke never really had fun at those parties, they just weren't her thing. When Nathan Scott would throw himself at her, she always just rolled her eyes and told him she wasn't interested. Nathan Scott was an ass, more importantly, he was an ass to Haley, and there was no way, no matter how many drinks she had, that Brooke was going to sleep with someone that would treat her best friend like that.

And the thing that hurt the most was the fact that she was no better than Nathan Scott was, in fact, she was worse. When Brooke looked at all the scars on Haley's arm, she knew without having to ask, that not one of those scars were because of Nathan or something he said. All of them were because of her and Taylor.

Haley didn't care what a jerk off like Nathan had to say to her, he didn't know her, so she knew that his words were a waste. The things that she and Taylor did however mattered a great deal to Haley. Brooke knew that in all of the world, her and Taylor were the ones that loved Haley the most, so she knew that it was their fault that Haley was so depressed, that she had fallen into such a dark place that she would cut herself.

And she and Taylor were going to help her get out of it.

"You'd be surprised," Brooke mumbled, but just loud enough for both sisters to hear her. She looked up to find Taylor giving her a confused look and Haley looking apologetic. Seeing Haley looking like that broke Brooke's heart. Haley shouldn't be sorry about what she's been doing; it wasn't her fault.

"I'm actually kind of tired," Haley announced suddenly, pulling out of Taylor's grip slightly to look up at her. She saw the disappointment flash in her big sister's eyes for a moment, sad that they couldn't hang out at the moment. "I didn't really sleep well last night and it's been a long weekend."

"Okay," Taylor replied, though she found it strange that her little sister was trying to get away from them. She was wondering if Haley forgot that she was attached to Brooke. "Then are you gonna go take a nap then?"

"Yeah, I think so," Haley answered; trying to run her hand through her hair when she remembered that she was still cuffed to her best friend. "Oh, yeah. Crap. Do you mind, Brookie?"

"No, not at all," Brooke assured her, sending her a small smile and squeezing her hand. "It'll give us some time to talk." Haley immediately stiffed at her words, not too sure what Brooke wanted to talk about. They had a important things to discuss and she wasn't sure which one was the most pressing for the cheerleader.

She didn't mind talking about their newly discovered feelings towards each other. As crazy as it may sound, she was actually eager to talk about it, find out if Brooke really did feel the same way as she did. She wasn't ready to talk about her cutting yet though. She could barely stomach to think about it, let alone talk about it. How she managed to have that conversation with Brooke earlier without throwing up was beyond her.

"Great," she mumbled, keeping her eye contact with Brooke for a moment before dropping it and staring at her feet. "Talk."

"What's going on?" Taylor asked, noticing the tension between the best friends. She had walked in on the big confession, not that it was a surprise to her or anything. She had been watching her little sister and Brooke interact for what seemed like hundreds of years, and they weren't exactly subtle. Even Taylor's friends would comment on how in love they were when they would come over and hang out at the house at the same time Brooke and Haley were there.

"Nothing," both of them mumbled at the same, not sure what the other was thinking about or how much that Taylor overheard before she had made her presence known.

"Okay," she held up her hands in defense, glancing between them with an amused smile. She has always wondered if they would ever admit their true feelings for each other and get together. A part of her really hoped so, because she knew that there would never be anyone else in the world that could make her Haley-bub happy. Though, there were days when she seriously doubted that either girl would be able to get over themselves enough to put everything out there. "Just asking."

"Sorry," Haley mumbled again, leaning back over to give Taylor's waist a little squeeze. Taylor smiled and kissed her temple again, pressing Haley against her with all her might.

"Don't worry about it, baby," Taylor laughed, winking at Brooke. "You just get some rest, okay, kiddo?" Haley nodded and pulled out of the embrace, moving to stand beside Brooke. "I'll get unpacked while you're sleeping."

"Okay," Brooke nodded, resting her hand on the small of Haley's back and guiding her towards the backdoor. "If you want to come in when you're done, we can catch up. Huggie sleeps like a rock and I'm not tired, so I could use the company."

"Oh, um," Taylor tried, thrown off by the invitation. She loved Brooke, and Brooke loved her, but they never really hung out when it wasn't necessary. They were like real sisters, they annoyed each other but when it came down to it, they were there for each other. So for Brooke to want to hang out with her was a little weird. She noticed the begging look in Brooke's eyes and nodded slightly, letting her know that she understand what she was trying to convey. "Sure, sounds like a party."

"Kay, talk to you later." Brooke mouthed a silent thank you and lead Haley inside, and towards her bedroom. After they changed out of their bikinis, eyes not wandering so much this time now that they knew the truth, and got back into their old clothes, Brooke tucked Haley into bed. "That good?"

"It's perfect," Haley smiled, getting comfortable in her spot. Suddenly realizing that she was missing someone, her eyes started darting around the room. "I'm missing someone," she informed Brooke sheepishly.

"Right, Mr. Waffles," Brooke mumbled, looking around the room as well. She spotted the teddy bear on the floor beside Haley's dresser. "Oh, I found him." Stretching as far as possible, Brooke managed to grab him without forcing Haley out of bed. She was just about to turn around and hand the bear to Haley, when something shiny caught her eye.

"Yay," Haley cheered, tugging on Brooke's arm to get her to give her the teddy bear. Snapping out of her trance at the mental object, Brooke sat back on the bed and handed Haley her favorite teddy bear. "What?"

"Nothing," she answered, quickly. Seeing the nervous and doubtful look on Haley's face, Brooke shook her head and plastered a fake smile on her face. "There's nothing wrong." Jumping over Haley to get onto the right side of the bed, Brooke settled herself in for the nap.

"You sure?" Haley asked, eyeing her strangely for a moment, trying to figure out what had gotten into Brooke. Did she see something that freaked her out? Haley wasn't sure what kind of stuff was lying around her room.

"Yeppers," Brooke said in a sickeningly sweet voice and an affirmative nod. After looking up at her for a few more minutes, Haley finally decided to just let it go, figuring that whatever Brooke saw couldn't be that bad if she wasn't pressing her for answers with her no stop questioning. Brooke smiled down at her sadly, bringing Haley's hand up to her lips and kissing it gently. "I love you, Huggie Bear."

"Love you too, Bunny," she murmured, already starting to drift off to sleep. Brooke smirked down at her, trying to ignore how adorable she was and how incredibly lightening it felt to be able to say those words and know that Haley understood how she meant them. She waited a few minutes until she was sure that Haley was asleep before she shifted in her position to find a more comfortable one.

…**FYITM…**

"Knock, knock," Taylor called softly into the room, not sure if her little sister was asleep yet or not. She had finished packing a while ago, but she wanted to give the girls a little bit of time alone, give Brooke a while to gather her thoughts about whatever it was that she wanted to talk to her about.

"Hey, Tay," Brooke greeted her in a quiet voice. She knew that Haley slept like a log, it was something that she had learned after millions of sleepovers, but she didn't want to take any chances. Haley couldn't overhear their conversation, she wouldn't be too happy.

"She asleep?" She wanted to be sure. She didn't know what Brooke wanted to talk about, but she had made it pretty obvious that Haley wasn't supposed to know about it, so she didn't want to say anything when her baby sister was still awake. Brooke nodded and waved her in.

"Yeah." Taylor walked in and carefully closed the door behind her. She moved to walk towards the bed when Brooke held up her hand. "Actually, while you're up, could you grab something for me?" Taylor nodded and waited for instructions. "Could you grab that razor on the floor by the dresser for me?"

"Razor?" Taylor repeated in confusion, the idea that Haley might be using it for other reasons not even entering her mind. Not waiting for an explanation, Taylor walked over to the dresser and bent down, picking up the metal razor and bringing it over to Brooke on Haley's bed.

"Thanks." Handing the blade to Brooke, Taylor sat down on the other side of Haley and waited for Brooke to tell her what the hell was going on. She watched as Brooke inspected the blade, a sick look on her face. "Oh God."

"What's going on?" Taylor questioned, her voice low and hollow. She knew what was going on, deep down she had to. The moment she saw her sister outside, she knew that something was wrong. Even when she was excited to see her, she could see that there was something missing from the amazingly vibrant girl that she'd known all her life. It was like there was a light missing in her eyes or something, and it killed her. "Brooke?"

"I have to tell you something," Brooke informed her, her voice devoid of any emotion. She couldn't bring herself to look down at Haley or up at Taylor. She could feel all the emotions that had hit her outside come back and hit at twice the force. How could Haley do this to herself? How could Brooke have possibly been such a horrible friend to her that she had driven her to cut herself? "It's about Haley." She finally found the strength to look up at Taylor and she felt her stomach drop to her knees when she saw the devastated look already on the older girl's face.

"I know," the blonde whispered, looking at Brooke through watery eyes. Taylor James hardly ever cried, but when it came to her baby sister, she was never quite normal. She always seemed to take everything that happened to her sister a lot harder than she should or a lot more personal. Like Brooke, Haley meant the world to Taylor, and it killed her to know that Haley wasn't happy.

Without giving Brooke a change to say anything, she reached forward and gentle took one of Haley's arms in her hands and turned it up so she could see the inside of her wrist. Even though she knew what she would find, she had to swallow down the bile that rose up in her throw at the sight of all the scars on Haley's otherwise perfect skin. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth, but she wasn't sure if it was to stop the vomit or to hold back the sob.

"God," she whispered, her entire body frozen in shock. Brooke watched her face, not sure what her reaction was going to be. Brooke's initial one was anger, anger at Haley for keeping that from her and for doing it in the first place. It seemed that Taylor first reaction was the opposite; her first reaction seemed to be sadness.

"She said that she's been doing it for a year," Brooke spoke, not really speaking to herself, but not speaking to Taylor either. Taylor listened to her words, felt the knife slice through her heart, but she didn't look away from the scars, she couldn't. "The first time she did it was the night after you left and I got caption."

Taylor couldn't hold the sobs back any longer. She knew that it had to be her fault, there was no way it could be anyone else's. The night she left, she remembered Haley begging her to stay, pleading with her not to leave her alone with Eric. Taylor never thought she'd ever feel as heart broken as she did that night, as she watched Haley sobbing on the living room floor. Suddenly, it was like she had been transported back to that scene and it broke her heart all over again.

"I never would have gone if I knew…"

"I know," Brooke whispered, cutting her off before she could finish. "I think she knows that too. She doesn't blame us for what happened, she understands, but she just couldn't handle it."

"I just can't believe that she could get to a place where she'd be able to do that to herself," Taylor spoke, her gaze slowly traveling up to meet Brooke's. She wasn't surprised to see the same heart broken look on her face as she was sure was on her's.

"I can't either," Brooke confessed, silently cursing herself for the millionth time for not noticing that her best friend in the whole world, the person that meant everything to her, was drowning. Taylor nodded, knowing that Brooke didn't have the answers, nobody did. She bent down and pressed her lips to her sister's skin, kissing as many scars as she could, wishing that she could make them go away. Brooke watched her actions with sorrow, wishing that it were only that easy. If she could kiss away all of Haley's pain, she would do it in a heartbeat. "We have to help her. Somehow."

"What are we gonna do, Brookie?" Brooke closed her eyes, trying to control her tears at the lost tone in Taylor's voice. She opened her eyes again after a moment and reached over, brushing a few strains of stray hair off of Haley's forehead, letting her thumb linger there for a moment. After watching Haley in her peaceful sleep for a few moments, she brought her eyes up to meet Taylor's broken one's, a determined look in her eyes.

"Whatever we have to do."

**...FYITM...**

Sorry if you didn't like it. I told you I've lost interest in this story, so it probably wasn't that great, but oh well. Please tell me what you think.


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